The Supreme Court today said that it will consider submission for early listing of a petition seeking to restrain the Centre from appointing new election commissioners. A plea has been lodged in the Supreme Court to restrain the Centre from appointing a new election commissioner under the recently enacted Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023.
The plea has been filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, was mentioned for urgent listing by senior advocate Vikas Singh and advocate Varun Thakur, appearing for the Congress leader Jaya Thakur. Notably, two vacancies of election commissioners have arisen following the resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel and Anup Chandra Pandey’s retirement.
The bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwla and Justice Manoj Misra asked the advocates to send an email and that they will look into it. The Congress leader’s plea seeks a directive from the top court, urging the Centre to adhere to the guidelines formulated in a previous Supreme Court judgment, which stipulates that election commissioners should be appointed by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, and the Leader of the Opposition.
The Chief Election Commissioner And Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service And Term of Office) Act, passed by Parliament in December 2023, effectively replaced the Chief Justice of India along with a cabinet minister as one of the three members of the selection panel.
Earlier in January, Jaya Thakur moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Act, mentioning that the provisions of the legislation are violative of the principle of free and fair elections since it does not provide an independent mechanism for appointment of the members of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The Supreme Court refused to stay the new law and issued notice to the Centre while agreeing to examine a batch of petitions challenging the legislation.