The Supreme Court on Thursday once again refused to order a stay on the law to appoint election commissioners, saying that doing so at this stage would be "creating chaos".
The top court also noted that there are no allegations against the newly appointed election commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, who were picked after changes were made to the selection panel under the new law.
The Supreme Court questioned Centre over procedure adopted for appointment of two new election commissioners, adding that the selection committee should have been given more time to apply its mind on appointments
"Search committee for appointment of ECs should have been given fair share of time to understand background of candidates," the Supreme Court said.
The Centre on Wednesday defended in the Supreme Court the appointment of two new election commissioners (ECs) under the 2023 law that excludes the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee, saying the independence of the Election Commission does not arise from the presence of a judicial member on the committee.
In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the Union Law Ministry rejected the petitioner's claim that the two election commissioners were hastily appointed on March 14 to "pre-empt" the orders of the top court the next day, when the matters challenging the 2023 law were listed for hearing on interim relief. The affidavit has been filed in response to a batch of pleas, including those by Congress leader Jaya Thakur and the Association for Democratic Reforms, challenging the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023.
"It is submitted that the case of the petitioners is premised on one fundamental fallacy that the independence can only be maintained in any authority when the selection committee is of a particular formulation. It must be noted that the independence of the Election commission, or any other organisation or authority, does not arise from and is not attributable to the presence of a judicial member in the selection committee," the affidavit had said.
The apex court had on Friday refused to stay the appointment of new election commissioners (ECs) under the 2023 law.
The two vacancies had arisen after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel. Retired IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were appointed in their place.
Under the new law, the selection panel has the prime minister as the chairperson, and the leader of opposition and a Union minister nominated by the prime minister are the two other members.
A five-judge constitution bench had in March 2023 ruled that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) shall be appointed on the advice of a committee comprising the prime minister, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India.
