Supreme Court refers PIL to Constitution Bench in spite of Attorney General's objection

NEW DELHI: CJI Ranjan Gogoi made an exception to his rule of not admitting PILs by referring to a five-judge Constitution Bench a plea that the chief election commissioner and the other two election commissioners be appointed by a ‘collegium’. At the moment, ECs are appointed by the Union government and the senior-most among them made CEC.

The CJI’s order came on a PIL filed by Anoop Baranwal and his case was argued by advocate Prashant Bhushan. Attorney general KK Venugopal, representing the Centre, opposed the order but the bench, also comprising justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, overlooked it.

The PIL said that panel must be independent and impartial as it oversaw elections and that the fact that the government enjoyed appointing powers had ‘compromised EC’s independence’ over the years. The PIL sought a collegium-type body to ensure minimal government interference and fair and transparent appointments.