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Plea seeks recall of split verdict on CEC selection law; CJI says will examine it

A plea seeking recall of the September 23 split verdict in the CEC appointments law case was mentioned before CJI Surya Kant, who said he would examine the matter before taking a call.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine an application seeking recall of its recent split verdict on whether challenges to the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) should be referred to a larger bench.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the application before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, telling the bench that the plea sought recall of the judgment.

“There is a split verdict on the Chief Election Commissioner issue. We have mentioned an application for recall of the judgment,” Sankaranarayanan said.

The CJI said the court would examine the application before deciding on it. “We will examine and then take a call,” he said.

The senior counsel clarified that the plea was an interlocutory application (IA) seeking recall of the September 23 verdict passed by a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma. An IA is a formal request filed during an ongoing case seeking a specific interim order or direction.

According to a LiveLaw report, the application has reportedly been filed citing a reasonable apprehension of bias involving Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, who was part of the bench, as his son is a standing counsel for the Election Commission of India.

Sankaranarayanan also informed the bench that another party had filed a curative petition against the split verdict.

“A curative petition has been filed. That, I think, will have to go in its own form. Whether it is maintainable, I don't know. Ours is an IA seeking recall of the judgment. Curative often requires a review,” he said.

The recall application had earlier been mentioned before Justice Datta’s bench, but the matter was subsequently released and Sankaranarayanan was asked to mention it before the CJI.

The development comes after the two-judge bench delivered divergent opinions on September 23 on the Centre’s plea seeking reference of petitions challenging the 2023 law to a larger Constitution Bench.

Justice Datta held that such a reference was not necessary, while Justice Sharma favoured a larger bench.

The law, which is being challenged before the Supreme Court, excludes the Chief Justice of India from the panel for selecting the CEC and ECs.

Following the split verdict, the matter was placed before the CJI on the administrative side for constitution of a bench of appropriate strength.

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