A Supreme Court bench has placed the constitutional challenge to the 2023 law governing appointments to the Election Commission before the Chief Justice of India after the two judges differed on whether the case should be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench.
The dispute concerns the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. The law created a statutory selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. The arrangement replaced an interim framework laid down by the Supreme Court in 2023 that had included the Chief Justice of India on the selection panel until Parliament enacted a law.
Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma differed on the question of referring the pending petitions to a Constitution Bench. Their joint order consequently placed the matter before the Chief Justice for constitution of a bench of appropriate strength, allowing the institutional question to proceed without treating either judge’s individual reasoning as a final determination of the validity of the law.
One of the central issues raised in the challenge is the degree of institutional independence required in the appointment process for the Election Commission. Justice Datta’s reasoning emphasised that the poll body must not only function independently but must also be perceived as independent. Justice Sharma took a different view on the need for a five-judge reference at this stage. The legal validity of the 2023 Act therefore remains unresolved.
The case has significant public-interest implications because the Election Commission administers elections to Parliament and state legislatures and is expected to operate independently of the executive and political parties. At the same time, Parliament has the constitutional authority to legislate on the conditions of service and appointment framework for election commissioners, subject to judicial review.
The next procedural step lies with the Chief Justice of India, who will determine the composition of the bench that will hear the matter. Until a larger bench decides the challenge, the current statutory appointment mechanism remains the governing framework.
The case is distinct from current political disputes over electoral-roll revision or individual Election Commission decisions. Its core question is structural: whether the 2023 appointment law satisfies constitutional requirements concerning the independence and functioning of the Election Commission.
