CJI Surya Kant says SC will examine plea seeking recall of split verdict on poll panel law

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said on Wednesday that the Supreme Court will examine an application seeking recall of its September 23 split verdict on the constitutional challenge to the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the application before a three-member bench headed by CJI Kant and comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The counsel informed the bench that the application was an interlocutory application seeking recall of the judgement delivered by a two-judge bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma. "We will examine and then take a call," CJI Kant said.

The bench was informed that another party had filed a curative petition challenging the split verdict. Sankaranarayanan clarified that the curative petition was separate from the interlocutory application and would follow its own course.


The recall application centres on a plea that justice Sharma's son is standing counsel for the Election Commission of India before the Madhya Pradesh High Court. It contends that the association was not disclosed to the parties during the proceedings before the two-judge bench.

The applicants have stated that the issue is not one of imputing actual bias, motive or lack of good faith to justice Sharma, but whether the circumstances gave rise to a reasonable apprehension concerning impartiality. They contend that had the professional association been disclosed while the matter was being heard, the petitioners could have considered seeking the judge's recusal.

The application specifically seeks recall of justice Sharma's opinion and the common order directing that the matter be placed before a larger bench. It does not seek recall of Justice Datta's opinion.

The September 23 verdict arose from pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. The legislation replaced the selection mechanism laid down by SC in its March 2023 Constitution bench judgement in Anoop Baranwal vs Union of India.