| |
|---|
Debjit Mukherjee, Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the BJP over the controversial Election Commissioner appointment bill presented by the Centre. In a tweet she said, “Amidst calls to bow down to the judiciary, the @BJP4India instead bows to anarchy! The CJI’s role in the 3-member committee for selecting the CEC is crucial. We strongly oppose replacing the CJI with a cabinet minister in the EC selection. The discomfort suggests their vote manipulation could suffer. India must question this blatant disregard for the judiciary! Are they aiming to turn the Judiciary into a minister-run kangaroo court? We pray to the JUDICIARY for INDIA. My lord, save our country!”
It is to be noted that last March the Supreme Court said that the power to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners of the country will not be exclusively in the hands of the Cabinet. They will be appointed by a joint committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice. The Modi government has introduced a bill in the new session of Parliament which states that the Chief Justice will have no role in the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other commissioners from now on. The Chief Election Commissioner will be appointed by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and a member of the Cabinet recommended by the Prime Minister. That is, two members of the 3-member committee will be government representatives. In that case, even if the leader of the opposition party has an objection to the name of someone for the post of election commissioner, the government can ignore him because of the majority.
