Meeting to elect CEC should have been postponed as petitions pending in SC, present committee creates "partisan mechanism": Congress

New Delhi [India], February 17 (ANI): Congress said on Monday that the government should have postponed the meeting of the committee to select the next Chief Election Commissioner in view of the petitions pending before the Supreme Court.
The Congress held a press conference on the day party leader Rahul Gandhi attended the committee meeting and said that the Act, which constitutes this committee, "creates a partisan and non-neutral mechanism for the selection of Election Commissioners".
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the government wants "only control but not credibility," and the most important aspect for the Election Commission is "credibility."
"Removing or trying to keep the Chief Justice out of the appointment (of CEC) process as an independent entity, the government has made it clear, they want only control but not credibility. The most important thing for the Election Commission is credibility," he said.
Party leader Ajay Maken said the meeting of the panel should have been postponed.
"Today, a meeting related to the election of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was held. The Congress party believes that since the Supreme Court had said that the matter would be heard on February 19th and a decision would be given on what the constitution of the committee should be like. In such a situation, today's meeting should have been postponed," he said.
The present Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, is set to retire on February 18.
The selection committee for appointing Kumar's successor includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha. In terms of seniority, Gyanesh Kumar will be the senior-most Election Commissioner after Rajiv Kumar's retirement and has tenure till January 26, 2029.
The central government had earlier set up a search committee ahead of the meeting. The CEC and EC are appointed by the President of India based on the recommendations of a selection committee.
Singhvi said the Chief Election Commissioner and the Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Office, Terms of Office), Act 2023, creates "a partisan mechanism" for the selection of Election Commissioners.
"At the outset, we cannot ignore that this Committee is in clear and direct violation of the Supreme Court's Judgement of March 2nd, 2023 where a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India declared that the CEC and the EC's should be appointed by a Committee comprising of the PM, the LOP and the CJI," he said.
Singhvi said the Court, highlighting the need for the independence of the Committee that appoints Election Commissioners, had said "the executive alone being involved in the appointment, ensures that the Commission becomes and remains a partisan Body and a branch of the executive. The independence of the Commission is intimately interlinked with the process of appointment".
"The Election Commissioners, including the Chief Election Commissioner blessed with nearly infinite powers and who are to abide by the fundamental rights, must be chosen not by the Executive exclusively and particularly without any objective yardstick," Singhvi said, quoting the court order
"Para 119. In order to allow independence in the functioning of the Election Commission as a Constitutional body, the office of Chief Election Commissioners as well as the Election Commissioners have to be insulated from the executive interference," he said.
Singhvi said the committee constituted by the government, "which has been purposefully balanced, or unbalanced if we may say so," with a two-third vote being given to the Centre, "directly offends these clear and precise caveats of the Supreme Court of India" and is "therefore neither bona fide in its purpose or constitution".
He said the case challenging the Act is currently pending before the Supreme Court which has issued notice.
"The matter is listed for February 19, 2025 i.e. in less than 48 hours. It is our suggestion that the Central Government adjourn this meeting until after the hearing and instruct its counsels to appear and assist the court so that the hearing may be an effective one. Only then, can a decision be taken in earnest," he said. (ANI)