NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on Friday a batch of petitions filed challenging the Chief Election Commissioner Act, 2023, which had dropped the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the selection committee to pick the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
The Act was challenged by various petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Congress leader Dr Jaya Thakur and others.
The hearing comes at a time when the government is expected to fill two vacancies of election commissioners soon ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The search panel would include the prime minister, a cabinet minister nominated by the PM and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. CJI was excluded from the new law which came into force in January.
Last week, election commissioner Arun Goel put in his papers three years before his tenure was to end. Mystery shrouds his exit as he was in line for promotion as the chief election commissioner after incumbant Rajiv Kumar retires in February next year. Last month, his colleague Anup Chandra Pandey had retired.
Earlier, the court had refused to stay the Election Commissioner Act, 2023, but said it would examine the matter next month. But the petitioners moved the court again following Goel’s exit. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for ADR, sought urgent listing and hearing of its petition since fresh appointments were expected shortly. Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who led a three-judge bench, said, “I just got the message from the CJI that it will be listed on Friday.”