New Delhi, Jan 12: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the plea for an immediate stay on the new law governing the appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners, which excludes the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel. Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, however, agreed to examine a series of petitions challenging the new law and issued a notice to the Centre.
The bench directed senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who sought a stay on the new law, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre’s counsel. Singh urged the court to stay the law, contending it goes against the principle of the separation of powers. The bench responded, stating that without hearing the other side, they cannot issue a stay and would instead issue a notice.
Amid a political controversy over the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the panel responsible for selecting the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs), multiple petitions, including one from Thakur, have been filed in the apex court.
Advocate Gopal Singh has also approached the Supreme Court, seeking the annulment of the new law, which grants the central government broad powers to make appointments to the election body. Singh’s plea seeks the apex court’s direction 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 new law specifies that the President will appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners based on the recommendation of a Selection Committee comprising the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People as a Member, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister as a Member. The opposition has accused the Modi government of defying the Supreme Court by excluding the CJI from the selection panel, contrary to the court’s March 2023 order, which stated that the PM, the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, and the CJI would jointly choose the CEC and the ECs.
