New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (February 3) said it would hear on February 12 pleas challenging the 2023 law governing the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Elections Commissioners.
The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, which said that it would hear and decide the case on merit and finally.
What did petitioners submit?
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represented Association for Democratic Reforms NGO, submitted before the bench that the matter was listed for hearing on February 4 but it was not likely to be heard. He, while referring to the retirement of incumbent CEC Rajiv Kumar on February 18, told the bench that the matter required an urgent hearing as a new CEC will have to be appointed under the 2023 law, which is under challenge, if the court didn’t intervene.
Bhushan further submitted that as per the 2023 Constitution bench verdict, the appointment of election commissioners was to be done by an independent committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India, however, the government brought an act and removed the Chief Justice of India from the committee, and brought in another cabinet minister, or else it would be a threat to the electoral democracy, which has effectively made the appointments of commissioners only at the pleasure of the government.
Advocate Varun Thakur, who appeared for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, submitted that they had moved the application before the court seeking a direction to the Centre that the appointment of the CEC should be made as per the Constitution bench verdict dated March 2, 2023.
What did the Centre submit?
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, opposed submissions made by Bhushan and his request for an interim order and said that the Centre was ready for arguments in the case and court could fix it for a final hearing.
What have petitioners said?
The petitioners challenging the 2023 law governing the appointment, conditions of service and terms of office of CEC and ECs have argued that the provisions of the 2023 law for appointment procedure of CEC, ECs are contrary to the apex court Constitution bench verdict, which had directed inclusion of the CJI in the panel to appoint the CEC and ECs.
The top court earlier refused to stay the appointments of new ECs under the 2023 law.
