AMN
Supreme Court has refused to stay the new law that provides for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) in the country. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, however, agreed to examine a batch of petitions challenging the new law and issued notice to the Centre.
Several petitions have been filed in the apex court amid a political row over dropping the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from a panel empowered to choose the CEC and ECs. The new law states that the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and a Union Cabinet Minister.