SC to ‘take a call’ on recalling split verdict in pleas against EC appointments Act

Chief Justice Surya Kant on Wednesday said he would “take a call” on recalling a split verdict pronounced in September for referring to a larger bench the pleas challenging a 2023 law that governs appointments to the Election Commission, reported Live Law.

The application, mentioned before Kant by advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, asked why Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, who was part of the bench that heard the case, had not disclosed during the proceedings that his son was a standing counsel for the Election Commission in Madhya Pradesh.

On September 23, the Supreme Court referred the petitions challenging the constitutionality of the 2023 Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office Act to a larger bench.

Sharma had heard the petitions along with Justice Dipankar Datta, who held that the law “does not appear to ensure an independent selection process”.

The Act states that the head of the poll panel and the two other top members are to be appointed based on the recommendations of a selection committee comprising the prime minister, a Union Cabinet minister and the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

The composition of the panel means that the government enjoys a 2:1 majority over the leader of the Opposition, if there is a...

Read more