Supreme Court Declines to put a Stay on Election Commissioners Law Ahead of 2024 Elections

The Supreme Court stated on Thursday that it will not put a stay on the law concerning the appointment of election commissioners at the given juncture as it could lead to confusion ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This comes after the apex court's recent refusal to halt the appointments of new election commissioners under a 2023 law that removed the chief justice of India from the selection panel. The court advised the petitioners to file a separate application if they observed any irregularities in the selection process.

The bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta, and Augustine George Masih, while declining to stay the appointments made under the 2023 law, remarked that laws are not typically stayed through interim orders. The court postponed the hearing on a set of pleas challenging the appointments of two election commissioners until March 21.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing petitioner Jaya Thakur, argued that there was a clear violation in the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), contended that the exclusion of the CJI from the selection panel could subject the Election Commission to political and executive interference, jeopardizing democracy.

The hearing comes after the appointment of the former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Sandhu were appointed as election commissioners on Thursday. They were chosen by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The vacancies in the ECs emerged after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel. The NGO has contested the legality of section 7 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, and requested a stay on its implementation.​