Supreme Court Urges Decision on Election Commissioner Appointment Law

• Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar’s retirement has sparked a Supreme Court case on the legality of a new law affecting the appointment of Election Commissioners.

• Justice Surya Kant, a three-judge Bench, emphasized the test of the law’s validity, focusing on whether the court’s authority to announce binding decisions under Article 141 of the Constitution could be circumvented or diluted by a law.

• The petitioners, including the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms and activist Jaya Thakur, argue the law was introduced to dilute a Constitution Bench judgment in the Anoop Baranwal case.

• The petitions primarily challenge the validity of Section 7(1) of the statute, which mandates the President to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners on the recommendation of a Selection Committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People, and a Union Cabinet Minister.

• Advocate Prashant Bhushan urged the court to fix an early date for the case, suggesting it could be heard on February 4.