The Supreme Court on Monday, October 5, issued notices to the Election Commission and the Centre on a petition challenging the manner in which certain decisions of the poll panel were allegedly taken under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar without the approval of the two Election Commissioners.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana directed the Election Commission and the Centre to respond within a week.
During the hearing, the bench observed that decisions of the Election Commission are required to be either unanimous or taken by majority. The court said it presumed that this procedure was being followed in all decisions of the poll panel.
The public interest litigation, filed by Patna resident Rakesh Kumar Singh, questions whether the CEC had exercised powers individually that are legally vested in the Election Commission as a whole.
The petitioner has also sought directions preventing Gyanesh Kumar from exercising the functions of CEC until the matter is decided. The plea proposes that, during this period, the Commission’s affairs be conducted through unanimous decisions of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The petition further seeks directions regarding any resulting vacancy and calls for appointments to be made on the recommendation of a committee that includes the Chief Justice of India.
The plea comes amid reports of differences within the Election Commission over decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Election Commission has maintained that differences of opinion are part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.