SC fixes May 14 for hearing pleas against appointment of CEC, ECs under 2023 law

New Delhi | The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed May 14 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, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan fixed the date after advocate Prashant Bhushan urged the bench to accord urgent hearing in the matter.

Bhushan, appearing for a petitioner NGO challenging the appointment process, said the issue was covered by the Constitution bench verdict of 2023.

Justice Kant told Bhushan that the court will take up the matter on May 14 by cancelling a special bench matter on the said date.

Bhushan said though the matter is listed in the business of the day of the bench, they are urging the court to take it on top of the board.

Justice Kant said the bench will be taking several part-heard matters involving land acquisition on Wednesday.

On March 19, the top court had fixed April 16 for hearing a batch of pleas challenging the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners under the 2023 law.

Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, had earlier told the court that 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.

He had argued that the government, by appointing the new CEC and EC under the 2023 law, was making a "mockery of democracy".

On February 17, 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 would run till January 26, 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 till 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 March 15, 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 March 2, 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.

The 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.