New Delhi: The central government has told the Supreme Court that the presence of a judicial member in the selection committee of the Election Commission is not the basic factor for the independence of the commission. The Centre’s remarks came in opposition to petitions seeking a stay on the 2023 Act that excluded the Supreme Court Chief Justice from the committee to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners. The plea was that the appointment of newly appointed Election Commissioners should be done through the Selection Committee of which the Chief Justice is a member.
In a statement to the court, the Additional Secretary of the Legislative Department said that the petition was filed out of the misconception that independence can be maintained only when the selection committee is in a special configuration. The secretary also told the court that the independence of the Election Commission or any other authority does not arise from the presence of a judicial member in the selection committee.
The presence of senior politicians in the selection committee does not mean that the commission will be biased. High constitutional officers act fairly and in good faith. In its reply to the court, the government said that the allegation by the petitioners that a selection committee without judicial members would be biased is completely false.
It must be remembered that the Election Commission of India has been able to function impartially during the time when it had full executive power in appointments. The government said that as the supreme constitutional mechanism, the Chief Election Commissioner enjoys the protections enshrined in the Constitution, which enables him to function impartially. Allegations that the government’s action is malicious are baseless, the Center added in a statement.
The Center also denied the allegation that the election commissioners were appointed in haste. The government explained that the names of the six shortlisted persons were sent to the leader of the single largest party in the opposition as soon as they were finalised. The government also pointed out that no one raised any objection regarding the eligibility of the persons appointed to the post of Election Commissioner or the persons whose names were on the list. The government has also alleged that baseless arguments are being raised for political reasons. The government also demanded that the pleas to stay the 2023 Act should be dismissed.
The Center argued in the court that the 2023 Act had improved the process of appointment of Election Commissioners and paved the way for a more democratic process. Parliament will pass the law to elect the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners in December 2023. CEC and EC Act 2023 came into force from 2nd January 2024. The Center filed the affidavit in response to stay pleas filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur and the Association for Democratic Reforms against the Act.
