The Supreme Court bench has issued a key verdict on the appointment of the Central Election Commission. A five-member bench passed judgment on petitions filed against the appointment of election commissioners. The Supreme Court announced that a bench headed by the PM, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI should appoint the Election Commissioners.
Supreme Court directed the Center to make the appointments of Election Commissioners on the same lines as the appointment of the CBI Chief.
Chief Election Commissioners and 2 election commissioners, who oversee polls across the country, will be appointed on advice of a committee that will give the opposition and the judiciary a say.
The unanimous verdict said, “In democracy, the purity of the elections must be maintained or else it would lead to disastrous consequences.”
In the judgment pronounced by Justice Jospeh, Court noted that there is huge surge in the role of the money power and criminalization of the politics, and that the large section of media has abdicated its role and become the partisan.
Justice Rastogi said that removal of Chief Election Commissioner should be in a like manner and in like grounds as the judge of a Supreme Court.
During the course of the hearing, the Bench had asked Attorney General for the India R Venkataramani if the existing practice of appointing bureaucrats on verge of retirement, was rational.