CJI Surya Kant recuses from hearing challenge to 2023 law on appointment of CEC, ECs

The CJI said it would be appropriate for the case to be heard by a bench where no judge is in line to become the chief justice.

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on Friday recused from hearing a batch of petitions challenging the validity of 2023 law for excluding the head of the judiciary from the selection panel for appointing Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

A bench consisting of the CJI, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi, and Vipul Pancholi indicated that the matter would be reassigned to a bench on which none of the judges in line to assume the office of the Chief Justice of India would be present.

The court was dealing with pleas contesting provisions of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, that removed the CJI from the appointment committee.

The CJI flagged the possibility of a conflict of interest in continuing to hear the case. 

Advocate Prashant Bhushan for the petitioners suggested that the matter should be placed before another bench, noting that the two other judges on the bench are also in the line of succession to the top post.

The CJI agreed that the case should be heard by a bench where such concerns would not arise.

The matter has now been listed for April 7, 2026, before a bench to be separately constituted.

The legislation in question was enacted in December 2023, months after the Supreme Court directed that, until a law is framed, appointments to the Election Commission should be made by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India to safeguard institutional independence.

The 2023 Act replaced this arrangement with a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha. The law has since been challenged by multiple petitioners, including Congress leader Jaya Thakur and the Association for Democratic Reforms.