Supreme Court Split Sends Election Law Case to Chief Justice

The Supreme Court delivered split opinions on whether petitions challenging the 2023 law governing appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners should go to a five-judge Constitution Bench, sending the matter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to decide the next bench. The judges did not themselves refer the petitions to a five-judge panel. Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma disagreed over the request for a larger bench. Datta rejected the referral, while Sharma said the issues warranted consideration by a Constitution Bench. The split leaves the question of bench composition with the chief justice; the sources do not specify when he will decide. The petitions challenge the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office Act, 2023. It sets a selection committee comprising the prime minister, a Union Cabinet minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, excluding the chief justice. The Centre supported referring the issue to a Constitution Bench, while petitioners sought a hearing on the law’s merits without that referral.