Supreme Court Refuses To Stay Election Commissioners' Act Dropping CJI From Selection Panel
Live LawThe Supreme Court on Thursday decided against staying the controversial Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which removes the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel appointing election commissioners. The petitions, filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, the Association for Democratic Reforms, and others, questioned the legitimacy of the Act's amendments, particularly the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel. Expressing this concern, Singh asked the court today, “What was the point of this constitution bench judgment then?” Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the Association for Democratic Reforms, referred to the sequence of events leading up to the selection committee's meeting and the filing of applications seeking a stay on the Act. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and other lawyers echoed these submissions, raising the apprehension that the legislation under challenge would facilitate undue executive influence in the process of appointing election commissioners and chief election commissioners, and ultimately, the electoral process.