NEW DELHI: A curative plea has been filed in Supreme Court against a verdict on the law on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and ECs, citing “reasonable apprehension of bias and propriety” on the part of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.DELHIThe plea, filed by Jaya Thakur, said Justice Sharma’s son Siddharth Sharma was standing counsel of the EC before Madhya Pradesh HC. It alleged that the judge’s presence on the bench raised an apprehension of bias.A two-judge bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sharma gave a split verdict on whether validity of the law should be referred to a constitution bench, but agreed to refer the case to a larger bench for the sake of early adjudication of the issue.
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Validity of several provisions of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, has been challenged on the ground that the law gave the executive “overwhelming” power to appoint its nominee. The selection panel, comprising the PM, a cabinet minister and the LoP, gave the govt a 2:1 majority.While Justice Datta pointed out flaws in the law and said its validity could be examined by a division bench, Justice Sharma held that the issue had to be decided by a constitution bench.The petition said “a mere ground of appearance of bias and not actual bias is enough to vitiate the order” and argued that the judgment dated Sept 23 was vitiated due to Justice Sharma’s presence.
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