The hearing on petitions challenging the Election Commissioner Appointment Act could not take place in the Supreme Court on Wednesday due to a lack of time and has been postponed.
Justice Suryakant, heading the two-judge bench, assured that the matter would be heard soon.
The petitions pertain to the Supreme Court ruling in 2023 where the Constitution Bench ordered that the committee responsible for appointing the Election Commissioner should include the Chief Justice, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition.
However, the government passed a new law, replacing the Chief Justice with a minister appointed by the Prime Minister in the committee.
NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Lok Prahari, and Jaya Thakur are among the petitioners who have challenged the new law. These petitioners have also questioned the appointments of Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner and Vivek Joshi as Election Commissioner under the new law.
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A lawyer representing petitioner Jaya Thakur emphasised the importance of the case and requested an immediate hearing. Justice Suryakant responded that every petition filed in the Supreme Court is important.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for ADR argued that the hearing would take at least an hour. In response, the bench stated that a hearing today would not be possible, but a new date for a swift hearing would be provided soon.
On Tuesday, Bhushan informed a bench of Justice Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh that despite the 2023 ruling, the government made a “mockery of democracy” by excluding the CJI.
ADR, in its plea, has challenged the exclusion of CJI and challenged the election commission should be insulated from “political” and “executive interference” for maintaining a healthy democracy.
The hearing comes after the Centre appointed EC Gyanesh Kumar as the next CEC, whose tenure will run until January 26, 2029.
