Indian Supreme Court delivers major verdict related to Election Commission

Supreme Court of India on Thursday (March 2) said that appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners will now be done by President of India on the advise of a committee comprising of the prime minister, leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. Lok Sabha is the lower house of Parliament of India and its members are elected directly by the people.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph, in a unanimous verdict, held that this norm will continue to hold good till a law on the issue is made by Parliament.

The apex court said if the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha is not there, then leader of the single largest opposition party will be in the committee to decide names of the Chief Election Commissioner and elections commissioners for appointment.

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The bench delivered its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of election commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.

The bench, also comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, stressed on purity in the election process and said democracy is intrinsically linked to the will of the people.

Justice Rastogi, who concurred with the lead judgement authored by Justice Joseph, delivered a separate verdict with his reasoning.

The apex court said that election in a democracy should undoubtedly be fair and the buck stops with the Election Commission to ensure that its purity is maintained.

It said, in a democracy, the purity of election must be maintained or else it would lead to disastrous consequences.

The Supreme Court bench said that Election Commission must act within constitutional framework and within the law.

An Election Commission, which does not ensure free and fair role in the process, guarantees breakdown of rule of law, which is the bedrock of the democracy, it added.

The bench said that democracy is fragile and would collapse if "lip service" is paid to rule of law.

(With inputs from agencies)

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