CEC, ECs to be appointed by panel comprising PM, LoP, CJI for now: Supreme Court's landmark verdict

A five-judge bench led by Justice K M Joseph noted lacuna in the process of appointment poll panel under Article 324 of the Constitution, saying the EC should remain aloof from all sorts of interference by the Executive.

The Supreme Court passed the ruling on a batch of petitions filed by Anoop Barnwal, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, NGO- Association for Democratic Reforms and Dr Jaya Thakur seeking an independent mechanism for appointment of CEC and ECs.

"The CEC and ECs will be selected by a panel comprising the PM, LoP/leader of the single largest party & the CJI until parliament brings a law in this regard," the Supreme Court said, in its ruling today.

"A vulnerable EC would result in an insidious situation," the bench said, adding democracy can succeed only if all stakeholders work on to maintain purity of the election process to reflect the will of the people.

"A person in state of obligation to the State cannot have an independent frame of mind," the bench added.

The five-judge, also comprising Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C T Ravikumar passed the unanimous judgement.

Justice Rastogi, however, gave his own separate reasoning.

Justice Rastogi added that the procedure to remove CEC should also apply to the removal of ECs. CEC can be removed only through impeachment.

"The founding fathers of the constitution left it for the Parliament to frame law for appointment of Chief Election commissioner and ECs but political dispensations betrayed the trust and the law has not been framed in the last seven decades or so," the Supreme Court said, in its verdict.

"The ECI is duty bound to act in a free and fair manner, must act within the Constitutional framework and guidelines," the Top Court also said in its ruling.