Challenge to the law of appointment of Election Commissioner in the Supreme Court, CJI Sanjeev Khanna recused himself from the hearing.
CJI Sanjiv Khanna has recused himself from hearing petitions challenging the law of appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioner (EC). The hearing of the case will start from January 6 and a new bench will be formed for it.
It is noteworthy that on March 02, 2023, the Supreme Court had given a historic decision, in which it was said that the CEC and EC will be appointed by a three-member panel. This would include the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but the government had abolished the role of the Chief Justice in this appointment by bringing a law. While passing the new law, instead of keeping the Chief Justice in this committee, a representative nominated by the PM has been given place.
Congress leader Jaya Thakur, lawyer Gopal Singh, Naman Shrestha and some other petitioners have filed a petition against this new law passed by the Parliament. In these petitions, Sections 7 and 8 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment) Act, 2023 have been challenged.
Let us tell you that the petitioners told the court that the current Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is going to retire on 18 February 2025. That is, if an appointment is to be made, the court should take a decision in this matter before that. For the time being, the court should stop the government from making appointment to this post under the current system. However, the bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar did not pay any attention to these arguments.
Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna recused himself from hearing this case. He said that I was part of the bench that gave the interim order. Now this matter will be brought for hearing before the new bench in the second week of January.
