‘Petitioners trying to create controversy’: Center defends appointment of poll commissioner

The government opposes the moratorium on the appointment of electoral commissioners, arguing that any challenge to the legislation is politically motivated and “generated solely on the basis of unsupported and harmful claims”. The government also noted that the challenge to the Chief Election Commissioner Act did not challenge the qualifications of the persons appointed as members of the Election Commission.

Responding to the petitioners on Wednesday, the government stressed that it had not raised any objections to the competence or qualifications of the two new appointees. “Instead we sought to create a political controversy… based solely on naked, unsupported and harmful rhetoric about vague and unspecified motives…” the government said.

The government also said the petitioners failed to challenge the qualifications of any candidate to hold the constitutional office and should be dismissed on that basis alone.

The Central Election Commission Bill removes the Chief Justice of India from the high-level panel of the Election Commission; under this law, the three-member commission now includes the Prime Minister, a member of the Union Cabinet and the Leader of the Opposition. The chief justice’s removal was seen as a fair vote, raising concerns that the government could forcefully pick a nominee.

However, the government today argued that the independence of the ECI, which is responsible for organizing the polls, is not established as members of the judiciary are panel members of the Election Commissioner.

Read | Supreme Court refuses to stay law appointing election commissioner

The government said individuals holding such high positions were “considered to act fairly”.

The Supreme Court is hearing another petition challenging the exclusion of the Chief Justice from the panel appointing the Election Commissioner. Last month it refused to ban the law for the second time.

All this is happening less than a month away from the Lok Sabha elections.

Read | Petition to Supreme Court seeking ban on Centre’s appointment of polling officials

The CEC Bill has been in the spotlight following the appointment of two new election commissioners this month, days after the ECI announced the dates for the Lok Sabha and four Assembly polls.

Arun Goel resigned from the panel earlier this month and Anup Chandra Pandey retired last month, leaving only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar in the three-member panel.

Read | Why Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned just weeks before 2024 polls

The appointments of Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were immediately challenged but have so far not been overturned or stayed by the Supreme Court.

The latest petition opposing the CEC bill was filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-political, non-partisan non-profit organization dedicated to electoral and political reform.

Last year, the Supreme Court’s constitution bench ruled that senior poll officials must be appointed on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the chief justice, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

Months later, the government passed legislation removing the chief justice from the selection panel and replacing him with a federal minister, effectively giving itself a 2:1 majority.

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