The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) condemned the Union government for passing a bill which excludes the CJI (Chief Justice of India) from the selection committee of the Election Commission of India.
The Centre has passed a bill concerning the selection body for recruiting election commissioners as well as the Chief Election Commissioner. AAP openly criticised this bill claiming that this bill undermines the status of the Chief Justice of India in a fully functioning democracy. This bill exhibits a clear mistrust and disrespect for the Supreme Court and the CJI, said AAP leaders. The Bharatiya Janata Party has very recently overturned the Supreme Court’s order and passed the Delhi Ordinance Bill.
According to AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, the Bill proves that Modi “does not trust the Chief Justice of India.” “That’s why [Modi] took the CJI off the panel and presented a Bill that now says the prime minister, a minister chosen by the PM, and the leader of the opposition will appoint election commissioners,” he said at a news conference.
The opposition claims that the bill distorts any, and all fair selection in the Election Commission henceforth.
WHAT DOES THE BILL STATE?
The bill proposes that the Head of the panel for Election Commission’s selection committee would be the Prime Minister, along with the opposition Leader of the Lok Sabha and the Cabinet ministers are presiding members.
The decision follows a March ruling by the Supreme Court’s constitution panel that election commissioners should be selected by the president based on recommendations from a committee composed of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). This decision was made in response to a slew of petitions calling for changes to the procedure of choosing election commissioners, claiming that the government abused its power to make appointments in contravention of Article 324(2) of the constitution.
According to the Bill, the president would choose the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners based on the recommendations of a Selection Committee comprised of
(a) the prime minister, as chairman;
(b) the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha
(c) a member of the Union Cabinet appointed by the Prime Minister.
According to the Bill, the search committee for election commissioners would be led by the cabinet secretary and comprised of two members who are not lower than the position of secretary to the Government of India. They will put together a panel of five people for the Selection Committee to consider.
In response to the Bill, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala stated that the BJP intends to turn the Election Commission of India into a ‘Modi Election Commission’ through the Bill. He called the decision a “brazen assault on India’s democracy and bulldozing of ECI’s constitutional independence” and called it a “Black Day” for Indian democracy.
Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2024 in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, despite opposition parties claiming that it would undermine the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) constitutional independence.
