New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday, in a historic decision, has ordered the constitution of panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Chief Justice of India to jointly select the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
A five-judge Constitution bench has given this decision. The bench comprises Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar.
Justice K M Joseph said the sanctity of the election process has to be maintained to maintain democracy otherwise it will have disastrous consequences.
In fact, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court regarding the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners in a fair and transparent manner.
Justice Rastogi said that he agrees with the decision of Justice KM Joseph. The current process of appointment of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners will be canceled. There will be a committee for appointment.
The Supreme Court said that there is a need to separate the functioning of the Election Commission from executive interference. Also, election commissioners should be given the same protection as the CEC.
They cannot even be removed by the government. The framers of the Constitution had left it to Parliament to enact laws for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission, but political systems betrayed their trust and have not legislated in the last seven decades.
The Supreme Court said that the Election Commission should be independent. It would be unfair if it cannot claim to be independent. In a state of obligation to the state, there cannot be an independent framework of a person’s mind. A free person will not be a slave to those in power. An honest person usually competes with big and powerful people.