Supreme Court’s decision on election commissioner ineffective for the time being

It is crucial to keep the election process transparent in a healthy democracy. Otherwise, it won’t produce satisfactory outcomes.
It is incorrect to nominate the Chief election commissioners directly.

The only officials in charge of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are the commissioners chosen by the government.

It is crucial to keep the election process transparent in a healthy democracy. Otherwise, it won’t produce satisfactory outcomes. It is incorrect to nominate the Chief Election Commissioner directly. We must keep in mind the characteristics of a strong, liberal democracy. The vote has the most power. This causes even powerful parties to lose influence. The Electoral Commission must be independent for this reason.

When delivering his decision on the nomination of the Election Commisioner on Thursday, Justice KM Joseph, the head of the Supreme Court’s five-member constitution bench, remarked thus. The PM, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the CJI were to serve on a panel that appointed them, according to the court’s directive. The Central Government had control over the whole appointment procedure for Election Commissioners up until this moment.

Read Also:- Venice,the city of canals, dried up.

Although this ruling appears to be harsh and to bring about a significant shift, the reality is very different.

Actually, the Supreme Court’s judgement on the election commisioners won’t take effect until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nonetheless, notwithstanding the decision’s execution, only the Central Government’s preferred personnel would be appointed as Election Commissioners.

Since 2018, the Supreme Court has been hearing arguments over openness in the functioning and appointment of Election Commissioners. There were several petitions. The constitution bench of five judges began hearings on November 17, 2022.

Even before the next hearing, Arun Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries, received VRS on November 18th and was appointed Election Commissioner the next day, November 19th, on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The Supreme Court stated at the following hearing on November 23 that the appointment should not have occurred in the middle of the session. Especially because this position will be vacated on May 15, 2022. The bench directed that the documentation pertaining to the appointment be examined. The Attorney General was also requested to clarify the procedure of appointing election commissioners.

There was no order addressing the appointment of Election Commisioner Arun Goyal following this and other hearings on March 2, 2023, when the Constitution Bench’s judgement was reached. That indicates that the present Chief Election Commissioner and one of the two Election Commissioners will remain in their positions till the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

It is obvious that the general elections in 2024 would be presided over by the current Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Arun Goyal. Only at the time of the appointment of new election commissioners will this Supreme Court ruling be effective.

Even after the decision of the Supreme Court, the government will recommend the names

Both the Chief Election Commissioner and the Commissioner are proposed using their first names. Future events will continue to be the same. The name will be suggested by the Law Ministry. A committee made up of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India will then choose one of those names.

According to former Chief Election Comissioner SY Qureshi, just one person will be chosen from the names provided by the government in this case as well, but following the Supreme Court’s judgement, it’s likely that no one would be able to make such claims that such and such major election will take place. The commissioner is a Sonia Gandhi ally or was appointed by Modi. Over the past 20 years, I have personally been calling for this reform.

Can the government challenge the decision of the Supreme Court?

According to the unanimous decision of the five-judge constitution bench, it appears to be a little challenging right now. There have been no instances where the Central Government has objected to a unanimous ruling by the Constitution Bench. Nonetheless, this court’s ruling can be changed by the parliament if it so chooses. The matter has not yet been confirmed by the authorities.

After all, how long will the court order remain in force?

This procedure will continue to be in effect until the Parliament enacts a legislation addressing the appointment of Election Commissioners, the Supreme Court made plain in its order.

Now know how many commissioners can be there in the Election Commission?

The number of election commisioners is not specified in the constitution. The Chief Election Commissioner and additional Election Commissioners may make up the Election Commission, according to Article 324(2) of the Constitution. What number they will have depends on the President. Under the country’s Election Commission after independence, there was just the Chief Election Commissioner.

The administration of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi nominated two more Election Commissioners on October 16, 1989. The Election Commission became a multi-member entity as a result. Before the ninth general election, these appointments were made. This was allegedly done at the time to remove Chief Election Commissioner RVS Peri Shastri.

The VP Singh administration changed the regulations on January 2, 1990, returning the Election Commission to a single-member structure. The appointment of two additional Election Commissioners was once more authorised by the PV Narasimha Rao administration on October 1, 1993, by an ordinance. From that time, the Election Commission is made up of the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.