With the general elections right around the corner, the Supreme Court has refused to order a stay on the law to appoint Election Commissioners, stating that doing so at this stage would be “creating chaos”. The apex court’s decision came on Thursday, March 21, while hearing applications asking for a stay on the law to appoint Election Commissioners.
Announcing the order, bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, “You cannot say that the Election Commission is under the thumb of the executive. At this stage, we cannot stay the legislation, and it will lead to only chaos and uncertainty.”
The bench was addressing the arguments of Prashant Bhushan, who, while appearing for the petitioners, said, “There was a vacuum, the constituent assembly expected it to be filled by an independent panel, not one dominated by the executive.”
The bench also noted that there are no allegations against the newly appointed Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, who were picked under the new law by the selection panel.
The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, had been passed by the Parliament last year and subsequently got the President’s assent.
The new law replaced the Chief Justice of India on a committee to pick election commissioners with a Union Cabinet minister. The committee now has the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet minister and the Leader of the Opposition, raising concerns over its impartiality.
