Supreme Court refers petitions challenging law on appointment of CEC, ECs to Constitution Bench

The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred petitions challenging the law on appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) to a five-judge Constitution Bench even as the two judges on the Bench delivered a split verdict on the issue.

A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma – which had on July 30 reserved its order on the issue –  requested Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to constitute a five-judge Constitution Bench for an authoritative pronouncement on the contentious issues raised by the petitioners.

“Inclusion of a Cabinet Minister (in the selection panel) fails to provide an independent counterweight that a neutral selector would. It becomes largely ornamental,” Justice Datta noted.