New Delhi. The Supreme Court has given a divided decision on the petitions challenging the Election Commissioner Act of 2023 regarding the appointment process of other election commissioners including the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice SC Sharma had different opinions on the issue of whether the case should be referred to the Constitution Bench or not. Justice Dutta rejected the demand to send the case to a Constitution bench of 5 judges. Whereas Justice SC Sharma favored that the case should be sent to a larger bench for decision.
To avoid delay in the decision, Justice Dipankar Dutta suggested placing the matter before Chief Justice Surya Kant so that he could decide whether the matter should be sent to a three-judge bench or a constitution bench of five judges should be constituted to decide on it. The bench agreed to this. Justice Dutta said that it is not enough for the Election Commission to be independent, it should also appear independent. Referring to the appointment of judges, Justice Dasta said that it is necessary to remove a common misconception. The claim that judges appoint judges is a myth. It has been promoted through words spread for certain interests and purposes.
Let us tell you that under the Election Commissioner Appointment Act, 2023, the CJI has been removed from the selection committee for the appointment of Election Commissioners and a cabinet minister has been included in his place. Whereas before that the appointments of CEC and Election Commissioners were made by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice. In this public interest litigation, this law of 2023 has been challenged in which the CJI has been kept out of the appointment process.