Stories
Supreme Court Agrees to Review Split Verdict on CEC Appointment Law
- •The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a plea seeking a review of a split verdict by two of its judges regarding petitions challenging the 2023 CEC appointment law.
- •Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma issued differing orders on September 23 over whether the matter should be referred to a constitutional bench.
- •Justice Dipankar Datta dismissed the Centre plea against sending the matter to a constitutional bench, while Justice Satish Chandra Sharma favored the referral.
- •An application for recall was filed before a bench led by the Chief Justice, highlighting the contradictory directives issued by the two judges.
Key Questions Answered
The Supreme Court agreed to consider a recall application filed by advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, which urged a review of the decision due to contradictory directives issued by the two judges. Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma delivered a split verdict on September 23 regarding whether to refer the petitions challenging the 2023 law to a constitutional bench.
The two judges disagreed on whether to refer petitions challenging the 2023 Chief Election Commissioner appointment law to a larger constitutional bench. Justice Dipankar Datta dismissed the Centre's plea and ruled against sending the matter to a constitutional bench, whereas Justice Satish Chandra Sharma favored referring the cases to a constitutional bench.
The primary challenge targets the provisions of the 2023 law that excluded the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. Instead, the law placed a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the Prime Minister onto the panel alongside the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
