Stories
Supreme Court Agrees to Examine Plea Seeking Recall of Split Verdict on CEC Act
- •The Supreme Court has agreed to examine an application seeking the recall of the September 23 split verdict on the CEC Act, 2023.
- •The plea highlights concerns regarding potential bias, noting that the son of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma serves as standing counsel for the Election Commission of India.
- •The original split verdict involved Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma, who delivered divergent opinions on referring the challenges to a larger bench.
- •The petitions challenge the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, which notably excluded the CJI from the selection panel.
Key Questions Answered
An application seeking to recall the September 23 split verdict was filed due to an apprehension of bias against Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. It emerged that Justice Sharma's son serves as the standing counsel for the Election Commission of India before the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma delivered divergent opinions on whether petitions challenging the 2023 law should be referred to a larger bench. While Justice Datta held that a reference to a larger bench was unnecessary, Justice Sharma favoured referring the matter to a five-judge bench.
The 2023 law replaced the selection mechanism previously prescribed by the Supreme Court in the Anoop Baranwal judgment and explicitly excluded the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee. Under the new legislation, the panel consists of the Prime Minister, a nominated Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
