ROOTING FOR DISTINCT BRANCHES ON A STRONG TREE

This wasn't the first time that the separation of powers was questioned while selecting the chief election commissioner. Where should the line be drawn, by whom?

- SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU

India's 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has taken charge. There was expected political noise before and during the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar, and that noise is not to be frowned upon in a democracy. One has to only see the combativeness of the confirmation process for President Donald Trump's nominees in the US to value this noise.

Having said that, let us get into the quality of the noise generated. Rahul Gandhi, who was on the panel to select the CEC, handed over a dissent note. His primary objection was that the selection panel should have included the Chief Justice of India (CJI), or the government should have waited until the top court decided on a petition that demanded it.

The matter was to come up before the court on February 19 (it was not posted for judgment though), but the sitting CEC was retiring on February 18. Therefore, the selection panel met a day before to pick a new CEC. The government's outer layer of defense was in this chronology. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court did not seem to be in any great hurry to hear the petition on February 19. It was reported that both the judge who was to hear it and the solicitor general were tied up with other cases. For some perspective, in a March 2023 judgment, the Supreme Court had included the CJI as a member of the selection panel, but the government had overturned this instantly by amending the law.