Supreme Court Examines Petitions Challenging New Law on Appointment of Election Commissioners, India

The Supreme Court has declined to put a halt to a new law concerning the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, which excludes the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel. However, the Court has agreed to review a series of petitions challenging the new law and has issued a notice to the Centre. The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta has instructed senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Congress leader Jaya Thakur, to present a copy of the petition to the Centre’s counsel. Singh argued that the law should be stayed as it violates the separation of powers, but the Court stated that it cannot make such a decision without hearing both sides. Various petitions have been submitted to the Supreme Court, including the one filed by Thakur, amid a political controversy over the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the panel. Another advocate, Gopal Singh, has petitioned the court to quash the new law, which grants the central government significant powers in making appointments to the election body. Singh’s plea requests the apex court to establish an independent and transparent system for the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. According to the new law, the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People as Member, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister as Member. The opposition parties have accused the Modi government of defying the Supreme Court’s order by omitting the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel. In March 2023, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners would be chosen by the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.