Panel of PM, CJI and Opposition leaders to pick poll commissioners: SC

The bench noted that several political parties had come to power but none framed a law/process for appointments to the ECI

The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the existing practice of appointing election commissioners and ordered appointments to be made on the advice of a panel of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the leader of the Opposition.

Effectively, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners will now be appointed on similar lines as the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation. A Constitution Bench comprising Justices K M Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C T Ravikumar said the new practice would continue until a law was passed by Parliament.

“We declare that the appointment