Supreme Court on Thursday orders the establishment of a bipartisan panel that will include the opposition leader to elect election commissioners. At present, the president of the country appoints the chief election commissioner and two commissioners for a tenure of six years each. Typically, they are former bureaucrats.

Ending a practice of the government effectively choosing election commissioners, the Supreme Court said that the new panel will consist of the prime minister, the chief justice, and opposition leaders.

Justice K M Joseph said, “This norm will continue to hold good till a law is made by parliament”.

He further said, “The election commission of India is to perform the arduous and unenviable task of remaining aloof from all forms of subjugation by and interference from the executive”.

He was delivering the order of a constitution bench that heard several petitions calling for an independent committee to appoint election commissioners.

Dr. S Y Quraishi, India’s former chief election commissioner said, “our long pending demands are being met”.

He took to Twitter to express his happiness. He tweeted, “At last, SC has clinched it. The demand has been pending for two decades. Good for the perception of neutrality of the Election Commission”, through his official Twitter handle.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan was representing the petitioners, and termed the judgment “historic”.

Prashant Bhushan said, “They have said the independence of the election commission is absolutely essential for democracy, and for that independence to be assured, you cannot have a system where the government alone appoints the election commissioners”.

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