Plea in SC challenges appointment of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, two election commissioners

CEC Gyanesh Kumar (centre) with Election Commissioners SS Sandhu (left) and Vivek Joshi at an ECI meeting

NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the appointments of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.Through the petition, the petitioner has sought a writ of quo warranto against Kumar, Sandhu and Joshi and challenged the validity of their appointments to the Election Commission, according to Live Law report.Plea questions eligibility The plea contends that their appointments did not follow the procedure prescribed under the CEC and other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.The petitioner has argued that under Section 6 of the Act, a panel of five names should have been prepared for each vacancy before the appointments were made.

The plea claims this procedure was not followed.Rhe eligibility of the three officials was also challenged, arguing that none of them had previously handled election-related assignments and therefore did not meet the eligibility requirements under Section 5 of the 2023 Act.

The plea also refers to the Supreme Court’s March 2024 proceedings concerning the appointments, where the court had expressed concern over the manner in which the selection process was conducted and said complete details of candidates should be circulated to members of the selection committee.

This update comes days after the Supreme Court of India refused to pass an interim order to suspend CEC Gyanesh Kumar, while issuing formal notices to the Centre, the Election Commission of India (ECI), CEC Gyanesh Kumar, and other respondents.