Supreme Court won’t stay appointment of new Election Commissioners

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, March 15

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the appointment of the two new Election Commissioners under a recent law that replaced the CJI with a Union Cabinet Minister in the three-member selection panel.

Panel temporary

The SC says the earlier verdict held that the three-member panel of the PM, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI will operate only till Parliament came up with a law on the issue

“The matter came up twice. On both the occasions, it was pointed out (by the top court) that normally we do not stay by an interim order a legislation,” a Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna told senior advocate Vikas Singh after he urged it on behalf of the petitioners to stay the law.

“When a judgment has been passed by this court, there can’t be any transgression,” Singh submitted. He said the government advanced the meeting by a day for selection of new ECs. Asking Singh to read the direction given in the verdict, the Bench pointed out that it was held that the three-member panel of PM, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI will operate only till Parliament came up with a law on the issue. On behalf of petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms, advocate Prashant Bhushan said the poll panel should be insulated from political and executive interference for maintaining a healthy democracy.

In the past, the top court had stayed ordinances where there were transgressions of its verdicts, Singh submitted. Noting that the interlocutory applications for stay were not on record, the Bench posted the matter for hearing on March 21.The development came a day after a panel led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as Election Commissioners under the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Condition of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which was notified in the official gazette on December 28, 2023.

Election Commissioner Arun Goel had suddenly resigned on March 9. After the newly appointed ECs took charge of the office on Friday, the Election Commission is all set to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday. Earlier, the top court had on February 13 refused to stay the newly enacted law on appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. The Bench had, however, issued notice to the Centre on ADR’s PIL challenging the validity of the 2023 Act on appointment of the CEC and ECs.

The ADR has contended that the law was contrary to the Constitution Bench verdict which directed the inclusion of the CJI in the three-member selection panel to pick the CEC and ECs. In January, the Bench had issued notice to the Centre on another PIL filed by Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jaya Thakur challenging the law on the grounds that it gave sweeping powers to the Centre by dropping the CJI from the three-member panel. Besides Thakur, Gopal Singh, an advocate, had also challenged the validity of the law.

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