The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred to a Constitution Bench a petition seeking an “independent mechanism for appointment of the Election Commissioners” outside the exclusive powers of the government. A bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul referred the petition by Anoop Baranwal and said it needs a “close look”. The bench, hearing Attorney General K K Venugopal, said, “We are of the opinion that the matter may require a close look and the interpretation of Article 324 of the Constitution of India.” Stating that the issue had “not been debated and answered by this court earlier”, the bench said, “We accordingly refer the questions arising in the present proceedings to a Constitution Bench for an authoritative pronouncement.” The petition said there is a need for a foolproof and better system to appoint Election Commissioners. It sought a direction to the Centre to constitute a “neutral and independent selection committee” to recommend names for the post of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. Venugopal told the court that there are 15 such constitutional posts for which appointments are made by the President on advice of the Cabinet, and if the court is going to test any one, it will have to test all of them. About the current procedure for appointment, Venugopal said the Cabinet makes the selection in pursuance of the Transaction of Business Rules of 1961.
