The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the law on the appointment of the election commissioners, saying it could create chaos before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The court also noted that there are no allegations against the newly appointed ECs, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
The decision comes days after the SC refused to stay the appointments of new election commissioners (ECs) under the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023 that excluded the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, "At the stage, we cannot stay the legislation or suspend it operation. It would lead to chaos and uncertainty and we cannot do it (stay) by way of an interim order. There are no allegations against the new election commissioners."
The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, was 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.
During the hearing, the bench questioned the Centre over the procedure adopted for appointment of two new election commissioners. It said the selection committee should have been given more time to apply its mind on the appointment of election commissioners.
Concerns of impartiality came to the fore after Congress leader and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that he had been given 212 names for scrutiny the night before, and a shortlist of six names just before the meeting for the selection of the election commissioners. The panel had PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chowdhury.
"The Chief Justice of India should have been on this committee," Chowdhury said and had added that the new law had reduced the meeting to a "formality”.
The two vacancies in the ECs came up after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel.