The Supreme Court today postponed to May 14 the hearing of pleas challenging constitutionality of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which removed the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel appointing Election Commissioners.
The matter was listed before a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan at serial No.33. Perceiving that it was unlikely to come up, Advocate Prashant Bhushan (on behalf of petitioner-Association for Democratic Reforms) made a mentioning and requested that the pleas may be listed next week. He stressed that the matter is covered by a Constitution Bench judgment (in the Anoop Baranwal case) and the hearing will not take much time.
Ultimately, the bench decided to cancel a special bench matter scheduled for May 14, in order to list and take up the present pleas on that day.
To recap, the CEC Act, 2023 has been at the centre of a legal and political debate, with critics arguing that the removal of the CJI from the selection panel undermines the independence of the Election Commission. Notably, as per the law, ECs are to be selected by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
The enactment of the Election Commissioners' Act triggered a cascade of litigation, with Congress leader Jaya Thakur, the Association for Democratic Reforms, and others approaching the apex court.
The Court had earlier agreed to hear the matter before the appointment of the new CEC following the retirement of Rajiv Kumar and posted it to February 12. However, the case was not listed on February 12 and got posted to February 19. The matter was not heard on February 19 at request of the Union and the hearing has been getting adjourned since.
In March, 2024, a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna (now CJI) and Dipankar Datta refused to stay the CEC Act.
Case Title: Dr Jaya Thakur & Ors. v. Union of India & Anr. | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 14 of 2024 (and connected cases)