Shortly before the dates for the Lok Sabha Elections of 2024 were announced, Arun Goel, an Election Commissioner, resigned from his position all of a sudden. According to Sections 7 and 8 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and terms of Office Act 2023), a plea has now been filed in the Supreme Court asking the court to prevent the government from appointing the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners. The method for the appointment of Election Commission of India members is outlined in Sections 7 and 8.
A fresh challenge to the appointment of two Election Commissioners is anticipated in the Supreme Court later this week. Jaya thakur, a Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh has signed the petition.
Following the most recent resignation of Arun Goel and the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey last month, the two positions of Election Commissioners became vacant. Since the national elections are probably going to be announced later this week, the only member of the three-member Election Commission of India left is Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
In India, the Prime Minister chairs a three-member group that recommends candidates for election commissioners, and the President appoints them. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a Congress MP and Union Minister, is also a part of it.
Jaya Thakur referenced the 2023 Constitution Bench ruling in her suit, which stated that election commissioners must be chosen based on the recommendation of a panel that includes the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
In order to create a new system for selecting the Chief Election Commissioner and the other two Election Commissioners, the administration introduced a new law in December. The new law substituted a Union Minister for the Chief Justice of India on the panel that makes the ultimate appointment decisions.
The law was denied by opposition parties, who claimed it compromised the poll body’s autonomy and gave the government more authority to nominate its top poll officers. Prior to this, the Supreme Court had turned down Ms. Thakur’s request to halt the law while it was being heard. April, perhaps around the time of the national elections, is scheduled for the hearing of several ongoing cases related to this topic.
