Supreme Court refuses to stay new law on appointment of CEC, ECs

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the new law that provides for appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners by a panel excluding the Chief Justice of India. 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. The bench asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who sought a stay on the new law, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre's counsel.