The Supreme Court refused to put a hold on the appointment of two Election Commissioners – Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu – under a 2023 law that excluded the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel. The court will hear the matter on Thursday.
Refusing to stay the appointments, the bench said, “Normally and generally, we do not stay a law by way of an interim order.” It deferred the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the appointment of two ECs under the 2023 law.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih told the petitioners, who pointed out that a meeting for the selection of ECs was pre-poned, to file a separate application.
Former IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had been picked by a selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Gyanesh Kumar retired as secretary of the cooperation ministry in February, while Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, was former Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand.
Mr Sandhu, a 1988 batch IAS officer, retired from the post of Chief Secretary on January 31, 2024.
The vacancies had come up in the Election Commission (EC) after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 8.
The poll panel is headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
The dates for the 2024 general elections for the Lok Sabha, along with four state assemblies, will be announced at 3pm tomorrow.
The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 16 and a new House has to be constituted before that.
Last time the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10 and held in seven phases beginning April 11. Votes were counted on May 23.
