The Central government on August 10 faced backlash from the opposition parties for introducing a bill in the Rajya Sabha that seeks to remove the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the selection panel of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners (ECs).
Centre Faces Backlash Over Bill Seeking To Remove CJI From Selection Process Of Election Commissioners
It is to be mentioned here the new bill proposes to replace the CJI with a Cabinet minister, making the selection panel a two-member body of the ruling party along with the Prime Minister as its head and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as its member.
The opposition parties slammed the move as an attempt to undermine the independence of the Election Commission. They further said that the bill would give undue influence to the government over the selection of the Election Commissioners.
“PM will appoint an Union Cabinet Minister to replace CJI as a member of the selection committee to recommend a Chief Election Commissioner. LOP will be a member but is bound to be outnumbered. This is yet another way to control an institution which must be independent,” member of Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, Sushmita Dev tweeted.
