EC Gyanesh Kumar new poll panel chief; LoP files dissent, but govt overrules

Joshi, a 1989 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, has been serving as Haryana Chief Secretary since November last year. Prior to that, he was Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training at the Centre.

The notification of the appointment came late on Monday night, even as the Supreme Court is set to hear the challenge to the appointment process on Wednesday.

According to sources, in the 30-minute meeting, panels of five names, each shortlisted for the posts of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner, were placed before the committee for consideration.

Sources said Gandhi’s dissent note was included in the meeting proceedings. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block.

Gandhi is learnt to have asked the Government to postpone the appointment process since the Supreme Court is set to hear on Wednesday a petition challenging the removal of the Chief Justice of India as member of the Selection Committee under the new law.

Earlier, when there was no parliamentary law governing these appointments, these were made by the President on the Prime Minister’s advice. Traditionally, the senior-most Election Commissioner succeeded the incumbent CEC, with seniority determined by appointment date to the Commission.

The Selection Committee, headed by the Prime Minister, includes the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM, in this case Home Minister Amit Shah.

The new CEC was appointed under a new law: Chief Election Commissioner And Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service And Term of Office) Act, 2023.

Speaking in Parliament earlier this month, Gandhi had said: “In a few days, I am going to go to the (panel’s) meeting. There is going to be Mr Amit Shah and Modiji and me. Two to one. Why am I even going? What is the purpose? I am going to the meeting only to certify what Modiji and Amit Shahji are going to say.”

Earlier, the CEC used to be chosen by the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice, Gandhi had said. “The Chief Justice was removed from that committee… If the Chief Justice was there, there could be a discussion… The Chief Justice and the Leader of the Opposition could say no… So there seems to be a calculated strategy,” he had argued.

Sources in the Congress said Gandhi reiterated his position at the meeting.

The new Act was brought after an intervention from the Supreme Court, following a clutch of petitions filed between 2015 and 2022 challenging the Centre’s exclusive powers in picking the Election Commissioners.

The court had noted that the Constitution’s founders never intended to give the Executive exclusive appointment powers. Concerned about the “devastating effect” of leaving appointments solely to the Executive, the court established a new process.

In its judgment on March 2, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India would select the CEC and ECs, until Parliament enacted a law.

Before any vacancy in the Commission could arise, the government brought the Bill in Parliament, which passed it in December 2023.

The Act changed the composition of the selection committee — replacing the CJI with a “Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister”, effectively giving the government the final say on who is selected. The new Act is under challenge in the Supreme Court.

The Association for Democratic Reforms has challenged the removal of the Chief Justice of India as member of the Selection Committee under the new law.

Although the petitioners sought an early hearing before Rajiv Kumar’s retirement, the Court scheduled it for February 19, a day after his exit. However, the Supreme Court assured the petitioners that “consequences” of the court’s decision on the validity of the new Act would apply even if appointments were made in the interim period.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, senior Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Abhishek Singhvi said the Government should have waited for the Supreme Court to take a decision on the petitions. “It was our simple proposal. But we got to know that… unfortunately…this proposal is not being accepted,” Singhvi said.

“The Supreme Court is actively seized of the matter. It is hearing the matter in the next 48 hours. Couldn’t this government have waited for 48 hours,” Maken said. “By removing or trying to keep the CJI out of the appointment process as an independent entity, the government has made it clear that they want only control and not credibility. The most important thing for the EC is credibility,” Singhvi said.

Asked whether Gandhi put forth the party’s position at the meeting, Maken said: “What we said is our party’s view. He is our party’s leader.”

“The Leader of the Opposition certainly participated (in the meeting)…What happened etc…you will know within 24 or 48 hours. There is no point speculating about it,” Singhvi said.

The meeting for selecting the CEC on Monday was the first after the new Act was passed.