Amidst a political dispute regarding the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from a panel authorized to select the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, an advocate has approached the Supreme Court, urging the annulment of the new law that grants extensive powers to the central government in making appointments to the election body.
The petition, filed by advocate Gopal Singh, requests the apex court’s intervention to establish an “independent and transparent system of selection, constituting a neutral and independent selection committee for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners (CEC and ECs).”
The recently enacted law omits the CJI from the selection committee, stipulating that the “Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of—(a) the Prime Minister—Chairperson; (b) the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People—Member; (c) a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister—Member.” The opposition has accused the Modi government of contravening the Supreme Court’s directive by excluding the CJI from the selection panel.
In a March 2023 order, the Supreme Court had mandated that the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the CJI jointly select the CEC and the election commissioners.
Singh, through his Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeks an order from the apex court to restrain the implementation of the gazette notification dated December 28, 2023, pertaining to the Chief Election Commissioner and the Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Condition of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
“The pivotal legal question placed for the court’s consideration in the writ petition revolves around the constitutional inquiry of whether the Parliament or any legislative assembly possesses the authority to promulgate a gazette notification or ordinance to nullify or amend a judgment previously rendered by the Supreme Court, particularly when the judgment emanates from a Constitution Bench,” states the PIL.
The petition advocates for the inclusion of the CJI in the selection committee for the appointment of the CEC and ECs.
The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 includes provisions to establish a search committee chaired by the union law minister and two other individuals not below the rank of secretary to prepare a panel of five persons for the consideration of the selection committee for appointment as CEC or ECs.
