• Source:JND
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The Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, on Tuesday, recused himself from the hearing on a plea against the centre's law excluding the CJI from the selection process of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

Chief Justice Khanna, who was on the bench with Justice Sanjay Kumar said that he could not the matter and said that it would be taken up by another bench after winter break in January.

"List the matter before a bench of which I am not a part," CJI Khanna said.

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During the hearing, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnaryanan pointed out that the Chief Election Commissioner is set to retire in February and there are apprehensions that his tenure will again be extended.

The CJI asked the Centre and other parties to file responses. The Union Government demanded more time to respond to the notice, to which the petitioners objected.

Earlier, a five-judge bench headed by former CJI DY Chandrachud had passed an order in March 2023, mandating that the selection committee for the Election Commissioners must have the Chief Justice in it. However, the Modi government had taken the parliament route to bypass the order and excluded the Chief Justice from the committee.

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Currently, the CEC and ECs are appointed by the President upon the recommendation of a Selection Committee. The Selection Committee consists of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition/leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha.

The act created uproar as opposition parties accused the government of corrupting the constitutional institution of the Election Commission.

One more provision of the act states that the recommendations of the Selection Committee will be valid even when there is a vacancy in this Committee.