New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on Friday, the petitions challenging the appointment procedure of Election Commissioners under the new Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
A Bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Bela M Trivedi will hear the petitions filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and by Dr Jaya Thakur (general secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee.
This petition, moved by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), sought relief against the provision, which lays down the process for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan, counsel for ADR mentioned in the petition filed by ADR, that the 2023 Act overturns a previous constitution bench decision in Anoop Baranwal (2023) case, in which the Apex Court had held that leaving the appointment of election commission members in the hands of the executive would be detrimental to the health of democracy and the conduct of free and fair elections.
Accordingly, in the Anoop Baranwal judgement, the Apex Court had directed that appointments to the posts of Chief Eelection Commissioner and Election Commissioners should be made by the President on the basis of the advice tendered by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.
Bhushan alleged that in the 2023 Act, the Chief Justice of India is replaced with a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. ADR contended that this change makes the selection process vulnerable to manipulation, as the selection committee is perceived to be dominated and controlled by members from the executive.
Section 7 outlines the appointment process, stating that the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a selection committee.
The Committee consists of 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 another member.
The present development comes on the heels of Election Commissioner Arun Goel’s resignation as well as the likelihood of a high-level selection panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi filling the impending vacancies in the Election Commission by March 15.
The petitioners have filed interlocutory applications seeking to direct the Union to immediately appoint a new member of the Election Commission under Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India decision (2023), where it was directed that appointments to the posts of chief election commissioner and election commissioners should be made by the president based on the advice tendered by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.
The petition will come up for hearing on March 15.
