New Delhi: Plea Filed in Supreme Court To Halt Centre’s Appointment of New Election Commissioner

NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to prevent the Central government from appointing a new election commissioner under the recently enacted Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Terms of Office) Act, 2023.

Following Arun Goel’s sudden resignation as election commissioner, reducing the three-member poll panel to just one member ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Jaya Thakur has filed the petition.

Thakur’s petition requests the Supreme Court to direct the center to follow the guidelines outlined in a previous Supreme Court judgment.

These guidelines specify that election commissioners should be appointed by a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, and the Leader of Opposition.

The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Terms of Office) Act, enacted by Parliament in December 2023, effectively substituted the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet minister as one of the three members of the selection panel.

Earlier, in a shocking turn of events, Election Commissioner Arun Goel has resigned from his post ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

President Droupadi Murmu has accepted the EC’s resignation which comes days before the announcement of the dates for the polls.

A gazette notification from the law ministry stated that Goel’s resignation took effect on Saturday. The notification read, “In pursuance of clause (1) of Section 11 of The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, the President is pleased to accept the resignation tendered by Shri Arun Goel, Election Commissioner with effect from the 09 March 2024.”

Arun Goel’s term was scheduled to continue until November 2027, with plans for him to assume the role of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in 2025.

Following Goel’s resignation, the three-member panel of the Election Commission now comprises only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey retired in February.

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