New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the pleas challenging the legality of a new law, which puts Centre in a dominating position in the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs), could be taken up for hearing on March 19, 2025.
The matter was listed today before a bench comprising justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, orally mentioned the matter before the bench seeking an early hearing today. Bhushan said that a new CEC and an EC had already been appointed under the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act of 2023.
Bhushan vehemently submitted that the case was extremely important and the hearing would not take up much time, and stressed that the petitioners’ counsel would wrap up the arguments in one hour. However, the bench said it would not be able to provide a date earlier than March 19, as there were no dates in between.
Earlier in the day, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had requested the apex court to adjourn the matter as he would be occupied in a constitution bench hearing. Bhushan had objected to this adjournment request by Mehta.
Bhushan said this is an important case and it should not be adjourned solely due to the unavailability of Mehta, and emphasized that any one of the 17 law officers in the Supreme Court could appear for the central government.
On Tuesday, Bhushan mentioned the matter before the bench led by Justice Surya Kant. He had vehemently argued that despite the constitution bench verdict of 2023 directing selection and appointment of the CEC and ECs through a panel including the Chief Justice of India, the government excluded the CJI. Bhushan pressed that the central government has made a “mockery of democracy”.
Bhushan said the matter is listed tomorrow, as item number 41 on the cause list and urged the bench to take up the matter on the top of the board, as it requires urgent consideration. Bhushan said the government has appointed the CEC and EC as per 2023 law, which is contrary to the view taken by a constitution bench. Advocate Varun Thakur, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, said three appointments were made by the government under the new law, which was under challenge.
The bench assured Bhushan and other parties that after some urgent listed matters, the court would take up the petitions for hearing on February 19.
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. Born on May 21, 1966, Joshi (58) would serve in the poll panel till 2031.
Earlier, Bhushan had argued that the top court in its March 2023 verdict had set up a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and the CJI to appoint the CEC and election commissioners (ECs). In December 2023, the Centre enacted The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. The new law has replaced the Chief Justice of India by a minister on a panel to be set up for the purpose of selecting the CEC and ECs, which was directly in conflict with a judgment delivered by the apex court.
"You need to have an independent committee to appoint the election commissioners," Bhushan had said. In March last year, the apex court had declined to stay the appointments of new ECs under the new law and deferred the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the appointments.
