Keywords: Supreme Court of India, Election Commission of India, Arun Goel, Election Commissioner, ECI, Public Interest Litigation
The Apex Court in the case Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India and ors dismisses a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner of India.
Arun Goel is a retired IAS officer of the 1985 Punjab cadre and was appointed the Election Commissioner of India on November 19, 2022. He holds a postgraduate in Development Economics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England.
The PIL was filed by an NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) challenging the appointment and alleges it to be arbitrary and violative of the institutional integrity and independence.
The petitioner argued that a Constitution Bench led by Justice KM Joseph had rejected the argument that appointment was recommended in view of his age and ruled that the panel was solely created to discard the remaining candidates on ground of age.
Today Advocate Prashant Bhushan contended the appointment was arbitrary as demonstrated during the hearing of the Constitution Bench case. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the plea.
The Bench refused to entertain the PIL citing the fact that a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had earlier examined the files of his appointment as election commissioner and had refused to quash his selection.
Written by- Apoorva Chandra, College name – Aligarh Muslim University Centre, Malappuram, Semester- 3rd an intern under Legal Vidhiya
[1] BAR AND BENCH, Supreme Court dismisses PIL against appointment of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner of India (barandbench.com) (last visited on August 4, 2023)
0 Comments