JK News Today
New Delhi: In a move likely to trigger a fresh face-off between the Executive and the Judiciary, the Centre is set to push a legislation that will exclude the Chief Justice of India from the process to appoint the country’s top election officers.
The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Services and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, about to be introduced in Rajya Sabha today, proposes that the polling officers shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will chair the panel, it says.
The Bill, in effect, aims to dilute the Supreme Court’s March 2023 judgment in which a Constitution bench held that the appointment of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners shall be done by the President on the advice of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. Courtesy: NDTV
