The court was hearing a public interest litigation by one Anoop Paranwal through lawyer Prashant Bhushan asking for a fair and transparent procedure for EC appointments.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to come up with a law or a procedure for the appointment of members of the poll panel or it would be forced to step in, setting up another possible showdown with the government.
The Centre opposed court’s intervention, saying it was for Parliament to frame a law.
The court’s tough talk came a day after the government named Achal Kumar Joti as the next chief election commissioner (CEC) succeeding Nasim Zaidi.
Calling for transparency in appointment of poll watchdogs, the court said, “If parliament doesn’t make a law to appoint CEC then the court must step into the breach.”
A bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and justice DY Chandrachud said Article 324 of the Constitution provided that the appointments of the CEC and the election commissioners be made as per the enabling law, but the law had not been enacted.
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