The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Services and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, to come up in Rajya Sabha today, proposes that top Election Commission officers shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. 

This move is likely to trigger a fresh face-off between the government and the judiciary, the Centre is set to push legislation that will exclude the Chief Justice of India from the process to appoint the country's top election officers.

The Bill appears to dilute the Supreme Court's March 2023 judgment in which a Constitution bench said Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners must be appointed on the advice of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.

The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Services and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, to come up in Rajya Sabha today, proposes that top Election Commission officers shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. 

This move is likely to trigger a fresh face-off between the government and the judiciary, the Centre is set to push legislation that will exclude the Chief Justice of India from the process to appoint the country's top election officers.

The Bill appears to dilute the Supreme Court's March 2023 judgment in which a Constitution bench said Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners must be appointed on the advice of a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.