NEW DELHI: Congress leader Jaya Thakur on Thursday alleged before the Supreme Court that the appointments of EC Gyanesh Kumar (Now CEC) and EC Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were done in haste within a day of recommendation, without providing the Leader of Opposition sufficient time to scrutinise the recommended candidates.
"There are serious and alleged flaw in the law for appointment of CEC/ECs and it is exclusivity of Centre's say in the process," Senior lawyer Vijay Hansaria, appearing for Thakur, told the two-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.
He also further added that the concerned meeting was preponed, as the Union knew that the Court was set to hear petitioners' stay application against the Act the next day. He argued that such speed demonstrated excessive executive control.
Hearing the submissions that the speed in which they were appointed, the bench said, "We wish this speed is maintained for appointment of judges also. SC judges are also at par with Election Commissioners".
The bench wanted to know whether they were retired or serving officers at the time of appointment, and was informed that Gyanesh Kumar had retired in Jan 2023.
The court pointed out and questioned the petitioner as to on what basis the challenge to the law governing the appointment of Election Commissioners was filed, after observing that the ruling in Anoop Baranwal versus Union of India was only meant to fill a vacuum until Parliament enacted a law and did not mandate any particular structure for such a law.
"Anoop Baranwal judgment was only to fill the vacuum till the law is made. There is no observation in the judgment that the law should be framed in a particular manner. Don't only take the ground of violation of the 5-judge judgment in Anoop Baranwal," the court said.
Hansaria further emphasised that the independence of the Election Commission is as important as that of the judiciary. He also stressed that the same principles governing judicial appointments should apply to the Election Commission.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the statute which provides that the selection panel for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners will comprise the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of Opposition, and dropping the CJI from the list. The matter will be taken up for hearing next week.
The petitioners challenged the validity of the Act amd contended that the law was passed without substantial debate in Parliament and at that time 141 opposition MPs were under suspension.
The bench also added that no law was made for appointment of CEC/ECs before the court stepped it in 2023. It clarfied that -- without naming former law minister who had once termed judicial activism as "tyranny of unelected" -- it reminded of a parliamentarian saying tyranny of the unelected. This should be equated with tyranny of the elected, the court had pointed out.
