Non-governmental organisation Association for Democratic Reforms on Tuesday filed a plea before the Supreme Court demanding that its petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 7 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 be urgently heard, reported Live Law.
The section lays down provisions for the appointment of the chief election commissioner and two other election commissioners, who comprise the three-member executive arm of the Election Commission.
The law, which was passed by Parliament in December, has been criticised for excluding the chief justice of India from a panel tasked with selecting the election commissioners. Instead of the chief justice, a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister will be part of the committee.
This gives the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party the decisive voice on the appointments of India’s election commissioners.
The Supreme Court is yet to rule on the validity of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
With elections to the Lok Sabha just around the corner, the Election Commission has been left with just one member, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, after one election commissioner, Arun Goel, resigned and another one, Anup Chandra Pandey, retired. The Union law ministry announced Goel’s resignation on Saturday, but did not specify why he stepped down.
In March 2023, the Supreme Court, in the case of Anoop Baranwal Versus Union of India, had formed a selection committee consisting of the prime minister, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the chief justice of India, until Parliament came up with a law on choosing election commissioners.
The Association of Democratic Reforms’ petition argues that the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, does away with this arrangement that was intended to curb the executive’s influence on appointments to the Election Commission. The petition says that this is detrimental to the health of democracy and to the fairness of elections, reported Live Law.
Congress member Jaya Thakur has also filed a plea before the Supreme Court seeking to prevent the BJP-led Union government from appointing election commissioners as per the new law. Thakur has asked that the appointments be made as per the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Anoop Baranwal case.
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