SC fixes 16 April for hearing pleas against appointment of CEC, ECs under 2023 law

The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed 16 April for hearing a batch of pleas challenging the appointment of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (EC) under the 2023 law.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh fixed the date for hearing the pleas after advocate Prashant Bhushan said the matter is listed at number 38 and is not likely to reach for hearing during the course of the day. Bhushan requested an urgent hearing of the matter, saying it goes to the root of democracy and the issue is covered by the 2023 Constitution bench verdict.

Justice Kant said the court understands all these arguments but a lot of urgent matters are listed every day. "We will fix it on April 16, so that the matter is finally heard," the bench said.

Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), said the matter involved a short legal question — whether the 2023 Constitution bench verdict should be followed for the appointment of the CEC and ECs through a panel involving the prime minister, Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India or the 2023 law, which excludes the CJI from the panel.

On 18 February, the top court said it would take up on "priority basis" the pleas against the appointments of the CEC and ECs under the 2023 law.

Bhushan said the government, by appointing the new CEC and EC under the 2023 law, was making a "mockery of democracy."

On 17 February, the government appointed EC Gyanesh Kumar as the next CEC. Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under the new law and his term will run until 26 January 2029, days before the EC is expected to announce the schedule of the next Lok Sabha election.

Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch Haryana-cadre IAS officer, was appointed as an election commissioner. Joshi (58) would serve in the poll panel until 2031.

According to the law, a CEC or an EC retires at 65 or could have a tenure in the poll panel for six years.

On 12 February, the top court fixed 19 February to hear pleas against the appointment of the CEC and EC under the 2023 law saying if anything happened in the interregnum, the consequences were bound to follow. It said the issue would be decided on merit and finally.

Bhushan had referred to the 2023 verdict, saying it held that the election commissioners had to be selected for appointment by an independent panel comprising the prime minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India.

On 15 March 2024, the top court refused to stay the appointments of the new ECs under the 2023 law which excluded the CJI from the selection panel and deferred the hearing on a batch of pleas against the appointments.

The apex court told the petitioners that the 2 March, 2023 verdict directed for the three-member panel comprising the prime minister, Leader of Opposition and the CJI to operate till Parliament enacted a law.

The apex court's verdict held that leaving the appointment of the ECs and CEC in the hands of the executive would be detrimental to the health of the country's democracy and the holding of free and fair elections.

The NGO challenged the CJI's exclusion and said the election commission should be insulated from "political" and "executive interference" for maintaining a healthy democracy.

ADR's plea alleged the verdict was overruled by the Centre without removing its basis and the composition of the selection committee under the new law which amounted to excessive interference of the executive in the appointments and was detrimental to the independence of the poll panel.

Former IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Sandhu were recommended to be appointed as ECs in 2024 by a selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the new law.