ADR Seeks Urgent Hearing Of Challenge In Supreme Court Against New Election Commissioners' Law Dropping CJI From Selection Committee

This petition, moved by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), sought relief against the provision, which lays down the process for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.

Advocate on Record Prashant Bhushan, representing the non-profit, mentioned the plea today before the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta, and Prashant Kumar Mishra, requesting the court to grant an urgent hearing. This development comes on the heels of Election Commissioner Arun Goel's resignation.

However, the bench led by Justice Khanna refused to entertain the request immediately, directing Bhushan to follow proper procedure by moving a mentioning slip. The judge said, "Have you moved a mentioning slip? Otherwise registry objects. Move a mentioning slip and mention it tomorrow morning."

The petitioner's public interest litigation, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, challenges Section 7 of the 2023 Act for allegedly violating Article 14 and the basic features of the Constitution. This section outlines the appointment process, stating that the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners shall be appointed by the president on the recommendation of a selection committee. The committee consists of the Prime Minister as chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People as a member, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister as another member.

The crux of ADR's argument revolves around the contention that the 2023 Act overturns a previous constitution bench decision of the apex court in Anoop Baranwal (2023). In the Anoop Baranwal case, it was observed that leaving the appointment of election commission members in the hands of the executive would be detrimental to the health of democracy and the conduct of free and fair elections. Accordingly, the court had directed that appointments to the posts of chief election commissioner and election commissioners should be made by the president on the basis of the advice tendered by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.

The 2023 Act replaces the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. The petitioner contends that this change makes the selection process vulnerable to manipulation, as the selection committee is perceived to be dominated and controlled by members from the executive.

During the previous hearing on February 13, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the operation of Section 7 of the Act, noting that a similar matter was pending before the court and scheduled for April 2024. The bench directed that the present case be listed alongside the pending matter in April.

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