Mahua Moitra moves Supreme Court against 2023 law provision on CEC, ECs appointments
The Hindu
TMC MP challenges appointment process of Election Commissioners, citing concerns over executive influence in selection committee composition.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra has moved the Supreme Court against the provision of the 2023 law over the appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the Election Commissioners (ECs).
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh on Wednesday (February 19, 2025) deferred the hearing of similar pleas against the provision after the Holi break.
According to the Supreme Court website, the matter could come up on March 19.
Ms. Moitra, an MP from Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency, in her plea filed through advocate Talha Abdul Rahman, argued having a direct interest in the integrity and fairness of the electoral process in India and the role of the Election Commission of India (ECI), including the process of appointment of ECs.
"Even otherwise, as a conscientious citizen of India with a stake in the future of electoral democracy in India, the applicant seeks to intervene in the present proceedings in which constitutional validity of, inter alia, Section 7 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023 (Impugned Act) has been challenged," said her plea.
According to Section 7 of the Act, the selection committee — tasked with making recommendations for appointment of the CEC and other ECs — shall consist of the Prime Minister, as the chairperson, the Leader of the Opposition (or the leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha) and a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
Ms. Moitra said it was Section 7 of the impugned Act, which described the composition of the selection committee, which was particularly “troubling” and was the "fulcrum" of the her constitutional challenge.
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