Supreme Court dismisses PIL challenging appointment of election commissioner Arun Goel

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL challenging appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goel.

Updated on: Aug 4, 2023, 12:14:32 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL challenging appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goel. The court dismissed the PIL filed by Association for Democratic Reforms as the same appointment was gone into by a Constitution bench which refused to pass any effective order disturbing the appointment.

Arun Goel, Election Commissioner of India. (ANI Photo) (Ishant )

The court was referring to the decision of the Constitution bench in March where the top court held that future appointments to the Election Commission will be done by a panel comprising the prime minister, the leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.

The ADR challenged the appointment on the grounds that it was arbitrary and violative of the institutional integrity and independence of the Election Commission Of India.

The plea alleged that the Union government and the ECI through their acts of “omissions and commission” participated in a carefully orchestrated “selection procedure” for their own benefits.

“The writ petition is being filed in public interest challenging the appointment of Sh. Arun Goel as Election Commissioner vide notification dated November 19, 2022, on the ground that the appointment is arbitrary and violative of institutional integrity and independence of Election Commission Of India…,” the plea said.

The top court on March 2 had ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and ECs will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee, comprising the prime minister, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the “purity of election”.

The apex court had said it was mystified as to how bureaucrat Arun Goel applied for voluntary retirement on November 18 last year if he was not aware of the proposal to appoint him as an Election Commissioner.

The top court noted that a vacancy in the post of Election Commissioner arose upon the appointment of Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from May 15, 2022.

(With inputs from PTI)

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