CEC, ECs to be appointed by Prez on advice of PM, Opposition leader, CJI

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Chief Election Commissioners (CEC) and Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President of India on the advice of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha (or leader of the largest opposition party), and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

A Constitution Bench comprising Justices K M Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and C T Ravikumar said this practice will continue until a law in this regard is made by the Parliament.

The court passed the verdict on petitions recommending a new process of appointment of members of the Election Commission of India. "Any process that seeks to improve the election process before this Court must be considered," the bench said.

Justice Rastogi said the grounds of removal of Election Commissioners should be the same as the Chief Election Commissioner.

One of the suggestions made before the Court was to have a 'collegium' comprising the Prime Minister, the CJI and the LoP to select Election Commissioners. The bench said it was concerned about appointing persons ‘above politics’.

During the hearing, the bench also questioned the union government for clearing the appointment of Arun Goel as one of the Election Commissioners at a ‘lightning speed’ when the hearing was still going on. The bench told the Attorney General for India to produce the files related to the appointment of Arun Goel.

The matter was referred to the Constitutional Bench after a Division Bench of the apex court said there was a need to take ‘a close look and interpretation of the provision of Article 324 of the Constitution of India (powers and responsibilities of Election Commission of India).

The bench noted that several political parties came into power, however, none of them framed a law/ process for the appointment of the Election Commission. It said that this is a "lacuna" in law and that making of law under Article 324 of the Constitution is an unavoidable necessity.

The bench emphasised that the Election Commission is duty-bound to act in a fair and legal manner and to abide by the provisions of the Constitution and the directions of the Court. "Democracy is inexplicably intertwined with power to the people...Democracy facilitates the peaceful revolution in the hands of a common man if held in a free and fair manner,” it said.