Committee meeting held for selection of Chief Election Commissioner, PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi were present, Congress raised questions

A three-member selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block. PM Modi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah nominated by the Prime Minister attended the selection committee meeting. Congress raised questions on the selection committee citing the court.

CEC’s name may be announced soon

This committee will take forward the process of selection of the new Chief Election Commissioner. In such a situation, it is expected that the appointment for this post will be announced soon. That is, the name of the next Chief Election Commissioner may be announced soon. After the recommendation of the three-member selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President will appoint the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. Till now the tradition has been that the most senior Election Commissioner is promoted as the Chief Election Commissioner.

Appointment will be done after the President’s approval

At present, names are being discussed for this post on the basis of seniority in the Election Commission. In such a situation, the selection committee will submit its recommendation to the President after the meeting and the next Chief Election Commissioner will be appointed by the President on the basis of that recommendation.

Congress raised questions on the appointment of CEC

Congress raised questions on the selection committee citing the court. Congress said that there should be a balanced decision regarding the Chief Election Commissioner. The executive should not select the CEC alone. The CJI should also be involved in its selection. Congress leader Ajay Maken said that the Supreme Court had said that there would be a hearing on this matter on February 19 and a decision would be given on what should be the constitution of the committee. In such a situation, today’s meeting should have been postponed.

According to this, the committee of the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition selects the Chief Election Commissioner, but there are many constitutional and legal problems in it.

The matter was put before the Supreme Court regarding these problems and the Supreme Court gave a decision on 2 March 2023.

In this decision, the Supreme Court said that for democracy and its fairness, the selection committee of CEC and EC should consist of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India (CJI) and Leader of the Opposition.

But without understanding the spirit and purpose of this decision, The Chief Election Commissioner And Other Election Commissioners Act was brought in haste.

This new law did exactly the opposite of the decision of the Supreme Court, in which the executive is completely selecting the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

What are the rules for the appointment of CEC?

This will be the first appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in India under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023. The Act came into force in December 2023 and since then there have been many important changes in the appointment process of Election Commissioners.

Under this new Act, SS Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were appointed as Election Commissioners in March 2024. Both the commissioners were appointed after the resignation of Arun Goyal and the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey. In such a situation, now the current appointment of the CEC will be the first appointment to be made under this Act.