Modi, Shah ‘midnight decision’ to select new Chief Election Commissioner ‘disrespectful, discourteous’: Rahul Gandhi

He said that “by violating the Supreme Court order and removing the Chief Justice of India from the committee, the Modi government has exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process”.

“As the LoP, it is my duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the founding leaders of our nation and hold the government to account. It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the PM and HM to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC, when the very composition of the committee and the process is being challenged in the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in less than forty-eight hours,” said Gandhi in a post on X.

On Monday night, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner, and Haryana Chief Secretary Dr Vivek Joshi as Election Commissioner.

The appointments came hours after a meeting of the Prime Minister-headed high-level committee, where Gandhi asked the government to defer the appointment until the Supreme Court decides on the petitions challenging the new appointment process.

In his dissent note, which he made public on Tuesday, Gandhi said, “The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference is the process of choosing the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner.”

Gandhi also cited a Supreme Court judgement from March 2, 2023, which, as per him, had “ordered that the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners should be undertaken by a committee comprising of the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India”.

“The Supreme Court judgement reflected the larger concern among hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process. This is also reflected in public surveys that show a continuing decline in trust of voters in India’s election process and its institutions,” wrote Gandhi in his dissent note.

He said it was “unfortunate” that “soon after the Supreme Court order, the Government of India notified a legislation in August 2023 that bypassed the spirit and the letter of the Supreme Court’s order”.

“The government legislation reconstituted the committee to appoint the CEC and Election Commissioners to include the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and a Union Cabinet Minister to be appointed by the Prime Minister and removing the Chief Justice from the committee. This is in flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court order,” wrote Gandhi.

He mentioned that this government order was subsequently challenged by a public interest litigant. “The Supreme Court has indicated its intention to take up this matter on February 19, 2025, less than forty-eight hours away,” he wrote.

“It will be both disrespectful and discourteous to the institutions as well as to the founding leaders of our nation for this committee to continue with its process of choosing the next CEC, when the very composition of this committee and the process is being challenged and soon to be heard by the Hon. Supreme Court,” said Gandhi.

Gyanesh Kumar will take over as CEC on Wednesday as current CEC Rajiv Kumar is set to retire on Tuesday. 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.