Centre Lists Bill In Rajya Sabha For Exclusion Of CJI From Panel To Select Poll Officers

Parliament Session: If the bill is passed, the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and a Minister nominated by the Centre will be part of the selection committee.

A file photo of the Election Commission of India office

The government has listed a bill for introduction in the Rajya Sabha that will exclude the Chief Justice of India from the panel to appoint Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, sources told ABP News.

The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill has been listed for consideration and passage in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

If the bill is passed by Parliament, the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Centre would be part of the committee to select top poll officers. The Prime Minister will chair the panel.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was weakening democracy with one decision after another. 

"I had already said that the Prime Minister does not believe in the Supreme Court of the country. His message is clear - whatever order of the Supreme Court he does not like, he will bring a law in Parliament and overturn it," Kejriwal tweeted.

The AAP supremo said the selection committee of election commissioners proposed by the Centre would have two members from the BJP and one from the Congress. "It is obvious that the election commissioners who will be elected will be loyal to the BJP," Kejriwal said.

The development comes months after a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in March unanimously ruled that a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India must pick the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

The ruling was aimed at insulating the appointment of top poll officers of EC, which is an autonomous Constitutional authority, from the executive's interference.

The verdict brought to an end the decades-old practice of the CEC and ECs being appointed on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

The constitution bench, headed by Justice KM Joseph, held that this norm should be followed till a law on the issue was made by Parliament.

"Purity of election process must be maintained to preserve democracy otherwise it would lead to disastrous consequences," the apex court said.

The Supreme Court delivered its verdict on a clutch of petitions seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of election commissioners.

The incumbent Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey will demit office on February 14 on attaining the age of 65 years.

His retirement will come ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls. On the past two occasions, the commission had announced the schedule of general polls in March.