The Supreme Court has fixed the date for the final hearing on the petitions challenging the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. The bench of Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Vipul M Pancholi has fixed May 6 and 7 for the final hearing. Earlier, the court had directed all the parties including the government to submit written submissions in the case.
It has been said in the petition that according to the law brought by the Central Government, changes should be made in the selection of the third member in the three-member committee. Let us tell you that in March 2023, the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had decided that the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners should be appointed on the advice of the committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI.
But the Chief Justice of India recused himself from hearing on this law. CJI Surya Kant said that there is a conflict of interest in this. I will be accused of this. Now this matter will be handed over to a new bench for deliberations. CJI Surya Kant also said that this case should be handed over to a bench in which the judge is not in the race to become the Chief Justice.
In fact, the PIL has challenged the law of 2023, under which the CJI has been removed from the committee that appoints the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other election commissioners. The Supreme Court has not yet banned this law. Now this case will be heard by another bench. It has been said in the petitions that the Chief Justice being out of the panel weakens the independence of the appointment process. This law has been challenged by many petitioners including Congress leader Jaya Thakur.
