Supreme Court Denies Stay on New Election Commissioners’ Appointment

New Election Commissioners’ Appointment: Upholds Constitutional Amendments Despite Legal Challenges

In a decision made on Thursday, the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay on the appointment of two new Election Commissioners, dismissing the applications filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, Congress leader Jaya Thakur, and others. These writ petitions had challenged the constitutional validity of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which eliminated the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel.

“The appointments have already been made, and with elections looming, it becomes a matter of balancing convenience. Additionally, there are no allegations against the appointed individuals,” observed a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, indicating their reluctance to halt the appointments at this juncture. However, the court assured the petitioners that their arguments would be duly examined at a later stage.

The EC Appointments Act, passed in the Lok Sabha on December 21 and the Rajya Sabha on December 12, brought significant changes to the appointment, salary, and removal procedures for top election officials, replacing the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991.

Under the Act, the President of India is tasked with appointing the election commissioners based on the recommendation of a selection committee. This committee, chaired by the Union Law Minister, considers a list of candidates proposed by a search committee. Notably, the selection committee comprises the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition or the leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha, as outlined in Section 7 of the Act.

This legislative move came in response to a Supreme Court ruling by a Constitution bench, which specified that Election Commissioners are to be appointed by the President of India upon the advice of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition or the largest opposition party’s leader, and the Chief Justice of India. However, the Act introduced by the Centre eliminated the CJI from the selection panel, substituting a Union minister in their place.

A day before the Lok Sabha election schedule was announced by the ECI, President Droupadi Murmu officially notified the appointments of former IAS Officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as members of the Election Commission. These nominations were made by a committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.