New Delhi: Questioning the appointment process of the Chief Election Commissioner/Election Commissioners, where a panel comprising the PM, a Cabinet minister and the Leader of the Opposition selects the candidate, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the current system allows the government to appoint a person of its choice as two out of three members will favor it and asked the government why it is “pretending about independence” in the appointment process. It was said that instead of the minister, an independent person should be made a part of the panel.Citing the Supreme Court’s earlier direction that the panel should include the PM, CJI and the LOP, a bench of Justices Dipankar Gupta and Satish Chandra Sharma said it was not necessary that the CJI participate in the process, but an independent person would have to be a part of it or the presence of the LOP would become merely decorative. It said that when a CBI Director is appointed by an independent panel comprising the PM, CJI and LOP, why should not the same practice be followed for the CEC/EC, which is all the more important as the institution is involved in maintaining democracy and ensuring free and fair elections in the country.Although Attorney General K Venkataramani said that the neutrality and independence of the CEC/EC arises from their functioning after their appointment, the bench said that it started with the appointment process itself. The court said that the Election Commission should not only act neutrally but also appear neutral.

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“Why should a Cabinet minister be a part of this? Let us assume the ruling party has 300 MPs. The PM picks 25 of his best. Now you micromanage it again and bring in one of the 25. Why? Then why do you include the Leader of the Opposition in it? He is decorative. A minister will never go against the PM. It will always be decided by 2:1. Why this pretense of independence in the body,” the bench asked. Asked.The court is examining the validity of the law which was created after the Supreme Court passed orders that the appointments would be made by a panel of the PM, CJI and LOP to bring independence in the process.Deliberations on the search, selection and appointment of Gyanesh Kumar (now CEC) and SS Sandhu as Election Commissioner in 2024 came under question, with the bench asking the Center to bring before it the original records.The Supreme Court said that the CJI is part of the panel for the appointment of CBI director. It said that the role of the Election Commission is more important than that of the CBI because it is involved in maintaining democracy. The bench said, “We do not say that there should be a CJI. But why should there not be an independent member? Why should it be from the ministry?”