The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has refused to hear a batch of pleas challenging the law regarding the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other election commissioners.
Here’s why
“I will be accused of conflict of interest. There is a conflict of interest,” the CJI said, sitting alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, according to new agency PTI.
The law in question – the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Tenure) Act, 2023 – has been challenged on the grounds that it excludes the CJI from the panel charged with selecting Election Commissioners (CECs and ECs).
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According to the Bar and Bench, the CJI said it would be appropriate for the case to be heard by a bench where no judge is in line to become the chief justice.
“Shall I hear this matter? Someone may accuse me of conflict of interest,” the CJI said.
According to the report, advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioner, suggested that the case may be taken up in a court that does not have a prospective chief justice.
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CJI Kant accepted this proposal to avoid possible conflicts of interest.
“That is what I meant. I should report the matter to a bench where there is no judge in the queue to become CJI. Then nobody can say anything. I have already done my homework,” CJI Kant remarked, according to Bar and Bench.
The case is now listed as next on April 7. “List this matter on April 7 before a bench to be reserved separately,” the Supreme Court ordered.
What is the law SC hears?
It is the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Tenure) Act, 2023.
The Act provided that the Election Commissioner be appointed by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition (or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha).
She excluded the CJI from the selection committee.
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Months before the bill was passed in Parliament, a landmark verdict by the Supreme Court in March 2023 ordered that the selection panel would consist of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. The court said the scheme would remain in place until the law was passed.
The law was adopted in December 2023.
The PILs said the exclusion of the CJI from the panel undermines the independence of the appointment process.
The law was challenged by several proponents, including Congress leader Jay Thakur and the Association for Democratic Reforms.
It has also been challenged on the ground that it is against the direction given by the apex court in its judgment in Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India and ors, which called for the inclusion of the CJI in the EC appointment process.
What was previously dealt with in court?
The Center had earlier argued in the Supreme Court for the appointment of two new Election Commissioners under the 2023 Act, which excludes the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee, saying that 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 Supreme Court, the Union Law Ministry rejected the petitioner’s claim that the two election commissioners were hastily appointed on March 14, 2024 to “preempt” the Supreme Court’s orders the next day when matters challenging the 2023 Act came up for hearing on an interim measure.
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In 2024, a bench of former CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta refused to stay the appointment of new Election Commissioners under the 2023 Act.
It also refused to interfere with the appointment of two election commissioners – Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar – under the said Act, the Bar and Bench said.
