Plea filed in Supreme Court to restraint Centre from appointing CEC, EC
Bar & Bench reported on March 11. The plea cites Section 7 and 8 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and terms of office Act 2023, with the plea, the report said. The plea also seeks direction to appoint member of election commission as per Arup Baranwal judgment.
The petition comes in the wake of Election Commissioner Arun Goel stepping down from his position last week ahead of Lok Sabha polls. Arun Goel was next in line to become the chief election commissioner (CEC) as incumbent Rajiv Kumar is set to retire in February 2025. The resignation of Arun Goel leaves CEC Rajiv Kumar as the sole election commissioner in India before the crucial Lok Sabha elections.
Also Read : PM Modi to chair first meeting to appoint new Election Commissioner today; Amit Shah, Adhir Chowdhury to attend The two election commissioners are expected to will be appointed t his week. A high-level selection committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprising a Union Minister and Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, is likely to meet for the purpose on March 14. In December 2023, the President approved a new law for the appointment of Election Commissioners last year.
The panel responsible for selecting the Chief Election Commissioners (CECs) and other Election Commissioners includes the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition, and a Union Cabinet minister, as per the new law. In March 2023, the Supreme Court had ruled that the appointment of CECs and ECs should be done by the President on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India. However, in
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