Supreme Court declines to stay appointment of Election Commissioners under 2023 law

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay the appointments of Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, NDTV reported.

The court also refused to stay the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, under which the two officials were appointed.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that generally, it does not stay a law through an interim order. The case will be heard next on March 21.

The law, which was passed by Parliament in December, has been criticised for excluding the chief justice of India from a panel tasked with selecting the election commissioners. Instead of the chief justice, a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister will be part of the committee.

On Thursday, a selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Sandhu and Kumar as the new Election Commissioners. The appointments were made to fill the vacancies created after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey in February and the resignation of Arun Goel on Saturday.

The selection committee is headed by the prime minister and also comprises the leader of Opposition or the leader of the single-largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha and a Union cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister.

The composition of the...

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