From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Amid strong protests by the Opposition, the government on Thursday introduced a Bill in the Rajya Sabha to override the Supreme Court Constitution bench judgment to provide for the appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners through a 3-member committee recommendations.
The Bill is ikely to trigger a fresh tussle between the executive and the judiciary as it removes the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee.
The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill also seeks to set up a procedure for the transaction of business by the Election Commission.
As per the bill, the Election Commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting:
(a) The Prime Minister- chairperson
(b) The Leader of Opposition in the House of the People Member;
(c) A Union cabinet minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister- Member
The Supreme Court had in March delivered a landmark verdict aimed at insulating the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners from the Executive’s interference.
It had ruled that their appointments will be done by the President on the advice of a committee comprising the prime minister, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. Hitherto, the appointments were made on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Reacting to the development, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Prime Minister is systematically weakening the Indian decision with one decision after another.
“I had already said that the Prime Minister does not believe in the Supreme Court of the country. His message is clear – whatever order of the Supreme Court he does not like, he will bring a law in Parliament and overturn it. If the PM openly does not accept the Supreme Court, then it is a very dangerous situation,” Kejriwal wrote on X (formally Twitter).
