New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the operation of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which dropped the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel from Election Commissioners.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued a notice to the Centre and sought a response in April.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioner, requested the bench to stay the Act saying, “This is against the very concept of separation of powers.” The bench, however, refused to stay the operation of the Act and said, “Stay will not be there. We can’t stay a statute like this. Notice we will issue.”

Madhya Pradesh’s Congress leader Jaya Thakur, Sanjay Narayanrao Meshram, Dharmendra Singh Kushwaha, and advocate Gopal Singh approached the apex court challenging the new election commissioners’ law that has dropped Chief Justice of India from the selection panel for appointing Chief Election Commissioners (CEC) and other Election Commissioners (ECs).

The petition stated that the provisions of the enactment, are violative of the principle of free and fair elections since it does not provide an “independent mechanism” for the appointment of the members of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The petition said the Act excludes the Chief Justice of India from the process of appointment of the members of ECI and it’s in violation of the March 2023 verdict of the top court which had ordered that the appointment of members of the ECI be done on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha till a law is made by the Parliament.

By excluding the CJI from the process, the judgement of the Supreme Court stands diluted as the Prime Minister and his nominee will always be “the deciding factor” in the appointments, said the petition. It said, “Act diluted the judgment passed by this Court and nullify the Committee by excluding the Chief Justice of India. It is further submitted that various State institutions supporting constitutional democracy have an independent mechanism for the appointment of its heads and members. The same is carried out with an object to keep them insulated from any external influence that allows them to remain neutral to carry on the assigned functions.”

The petition in particular challenged Sections 7 and 8 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.