New Delhi ∙ The Supreme Court has appointed an independent committee to appoint the members of the Election Commission. For this, the Supreme Court ordered the formation of a collegium comprising the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The collegium will also include the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This collegium will decide the Chief Election Commission and its members.
The current practice is that the President appoints the members of the Election Commission after accepting the names of those nominated by the Central Government. By changing this method, the Supreme Court directed to form a collegium comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In case there is no Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the representative in the collegium will be the leader of the opposition party having the largest number of members.
The President will appoint those who discuss and decide on this committee. The landmark judgment of the Constitution Bench was on petitions filed demanding an independent system for the appointment of Election Commission members. The verdict was delivered by a five-member bench headed by Justice KM Joseph.
English Summary: On Election Commission Appointments, Supreme Court’s Big Order