SC refuses to stay new law on appointment of CEC, ECs

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the new law that provides for appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners by a panel excluding the Chief Justice of India.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, however, agreed to examine a batch of petitions challenging the new law and issued notice to the Centre. The bench asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who sought a stay on the new law, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre's counsel. "Please stay this law. This is against the separation of powers," Singh said. The bench told Singh, "No, without hearing the other side, we can't. We will issue a notice." Several petitions, including Thakur's, have been filed in the apex court amid a political row over dropping the chief justice of India (CJI) from a panel empowered to choose the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs).

Advocate Gopal Singh has also moved the top court, seeking quashing of the new law that accords the central government sweeping powers to make appointments to the poll body. The plea filed by Singh has sought the apex court's direction to implement an "independent and transparent system of selection, constituting a neutral and independent selection committee for appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners (CEC and ECs)".