Supreme Court to Hear Petitions Against Election Commissioners' Appointment Law on April 16"

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court fixed a date for hearing a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act 2023. The court has fixed April 16 as the date of hearing.

These petitions were filed before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and NK Singh after the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners are appointed by a selection committee which doesn't consist of the Chief Justice of India.

Petitioner Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is appearing on behalf of one of the petitioners, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), urged the court to hear the case at the earliest. He underlined that "this issue is fundamental to our democracy" and added that it was to be heard on Wednesday but because of the crowded schedule of the court, it has been adjourned. He also highlighted that the arguments of the petitioners would not consume much time.

The bench opted to fix the hearing on April 16 and guaranteed that there would be very few urgent cases on that day to enable a serious debate on the case at the start of the court proceedings.

Bhushan alleged that although the Supreme Court had ordered on March 2, 2023, to form a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India in order to appoint the CEC, the Central government revoked this scheme later on.

In December 2023, a new legislation called The Election Commissioner's Act was passed, which took the Chief Justice out of the committee to appoint the CEC and other Election Commissioners. As per this new legislation, appointments will now be done on recommendations from a panel comprising the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition.

Bhushan went on to contend that in leaving the Chief Justice out of the selection panel, the Executive has taken control of the appointment of Election Commissioners, which is a "threat to electoral democracy." Numerous individuals, including Congress leader Jaya Thakur and different NGOs such as ADR and the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), have gone to the Supreme Court to seek to invalidate the law and get it stayed.