On Wednesday, the Narendra Modi government objected to a series of petitions requesting a halt on the implementation of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023. This act omitted the Chief Justice of India from the panel responsible for selecting election commissioners. It alleged that attempts were being made to generate a political controversy based on mere, unsupported, and harmful statements.
In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the government refuted the petitioners’ claim that Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Sandhu were appointed “hastily” on March 14 to forestall any potential orders issued by the apex court.
The government argued that it would have been humanly impossible for a single Chief Election Commissioner to effectively carry out the duties, particularly considering the extensive scale of the general election.
The government filed a response to the plea lodged by Congress leader Jaya Thakur and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) challenging the Act. The plea had noted that entrusting the appointment of Election Commission members solely to the executive would be “detrimental to the health of democracy and the conduct of free and fair elections.”
The court had mandated that appointments to the positions of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners must be made by the President based on the advice of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.
