Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said it is "disrespectful" and "discourteous" for the prime minister and home minister to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC when the process of selection is being challenged in the Supreme Court.
The government late on Monday night appointed Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), hours after the meeting of the prime minister-led selection committee in which the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha asked the government to defer the meeting in view of the Supreme Court hearing in the matter.
Gandhi also presented a dissent note to the panel, of which Home Minister Amit Shah is also a member.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would on February 19 take up on "priority basis" the pleas against the appointments of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (EC) under the 2023 law.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "During the meeting of the committee to select the next Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM, that stated: The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference is the process of choosing the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner".
"By violating the Supreme Court order and removing the Chief Justice of India from the committee, the Modi Government has exacerbated the concerns of hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process," he also said in his post while sharing his dissent note.
Gandhi said as the Leader of Opposition, it is his duty to uphold the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the founding leaders of the nation and hold the government to account.
"It is both disrespectful and discourteous for the PM and HM to have made a midnight decision to select the new CEC, when the very composition of the committee and the process is being challenged in the Supreme Court and is due to be heard in less than forty-eight hours," he also said.
In his dissent note presented before the panel, Gandhi cited the speech of B R Ambedkar while speaking in the Constituent Assembly in June 1949 to discuss the setting up of an independent Election Commission, where he had warned about executive interference in India's democracy and the affairs of the Election Commission.
Gandhi said in a judgement on March 2, 2023, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court ordered the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners should be undertaken by a committee comprising the prime minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India.
"The Supreme Court judgement reflected the larger concern among hundreds of millions of voters over the integrity of our electoral process. This is also reflected in public surveys that show a continuing decline in trust of voters in India's election process and its institutions.
"Unfortunately, soon after the Supreme Court order, the Government of India notified a legislation in August 2023 that bypassed the spirit and the letter of the Supreme Court's order," he said.
Gandhi said the government legislation reconstituted the committee to appoint the CEC and Election Commissioners to include the prime minister, Leader of Opposition and a Union Cabinet minister to be appointed by the prime minister and removing the chief justice from the committee.
"This is in flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court order," he noted.
He said this government order was subsequently challenged by a public interest litigant and the Supreme Court has indicated its intention to take up this matter on February 19, 2025, which was less than forty-eight hours away.
"Therefore, it is the view of the Congress party that the process of choosing the next CEC be deferred until the Supreme Court hearing and this meeting be postponed," he said.
On Tuesday, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was informed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for an NGO, that despite the Constitution bench verdict of 2023 directing selection and appointment of the CEC and ECs through a panel, including the Chief Justice of India, the government excluded the CJI and made a "mockery of democracy".
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