New Delhi: The Supreme Court declined to halt the appointment of two Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, under a 2023 law that excluded the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel. The court scheduled a hearing on the matter for Thursday.

In its decision not to stay the appointments, the bench stated, "Normally and generally, we do not stay a law by way of an interim order." The court deferred the hearing on a set of pleas challenging the appointment of the two ECs under the 2023 law. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta, and Augustine George Masih advised the petitioners, who highlighted the preponement of a meeting for the selection of ECs, to file a separate application.

Former IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were selected by a committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gyanesh Kumar retired as secretary of the cooperation ministry in February, while Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, a 1988 batch IAS officer, served as the former Chief Secretary of the Government of Uttarakhand until January 31, 2024.

The vacancies in the Election Commission (EC) arose after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 8. The poll panel is overseen by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

The dates for the 2024 general elections for the Lok Sabha, along with those for four state assemblies, will be announced at 3 pm tomorrow. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on June 16, necessitating the formation of a new House before that date.

In the previous instance, the Lok Sabha elections were announced on March 10 and conducted in seven phases commencing on April 11, with vote counting taking place on May 23.

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