SC to hear plea to include CJI on EC selection panel

NGO tells Supreme Court that Centre can take ‘unfair advantage’ while filling two vacancies; organisation asks the court to stay the new law on appointment of Election Commissioners

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to urgently hear on Friday a plea which said the Centre could take “unfair advantage” while filling the two vacancies of Election Commissioners (ECs) in the Election Commission of India (ECI) following the unexpected resignation of Arun Goel ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

A Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna agreed to list for hearing the plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, which said the new law on the appointments of ECs should be put on hold.

The NGO said the Chief Justice of India (CJI) should be brought back on board the highprofile selection committee headed by the Prime Minister for appointments of ECs to the top poll body as directed by a landmark Supreme Court judgment in the Anoop Baranwal case of March 2, 2023.

“Now, the Executive has the ability to appoint two Election Commissioners which can give an unfair advantage to the Executive. The role of the Election Commission is critical in ensuring free and fair elections and therefore, the appointments must also be seen to be fair and free from any bias or latches to the government of that time,” the organisation, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan and Cheryl D’Souza, submitted.

In Anoop Baranwal versus Union of India in March last year, a Constitution Bench headed by Justice K.M. Joseph (now retired) ordered the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two ECs to be appointed by the President on the advice tendered by a committee of Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha or the leader of the single largest party in Opposition and the CJI.