The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 (CEC Act) which provides for appointment to the posts of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (EC) by a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister (PM), a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha [Dr. Jaya Thakur and ors vs Union of India and ors].A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also declined to interfere with the appointment of two new Election Commissioners - Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar."We dismiss the application for stay. We will give reasons (later)," the Court ordered.The bench said that the appointment to Election Commissioners prior to the enactment of law, was being done by the executive and it would not be proper to question the independence of the poll body."From TN Seshan case and even thereafter, Election Commissioners were appointed by the executive and then upheld by this court," Justice Khanna said"Constitutional principles were being undermined.. and persons under the thumb of the executive," advocate Prashant Bhushan said on behalf of petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms."You cannot say that the Election Commission is under the thumb of the executive," Justice Khanna replied.The bench further said that staying the law now just before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will only result in chaos."We cannot stay the legislation now and this will only lead to chaos and uncertainty. Even leader of the largest opposition party is a member of this committee," Justice Khanna remarked.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central government also argued against the stay."None of them could say a single thing about the Election Commissioners. They say we accelerated the process as soon as they filed the application.. But the process started in February and there has to be reverse counting," he said.The Court then passed an order refusing stay. It, however, issued notice on the plea challenging the validity of the CEC Act and asked the Central government to respond to the same within six weeks.
TAGS: Supreme Court stay Chief Election Commissioner
