Judiciary bypassed

The sudden appointment of Shri Gyanesh Kumar as the chief election commissioner of India a day before the retirement of the incumbent cec Rajeev Kumar has raised concerns about the center’s intentions of controlling the independent constitutional institutions. The incumbent cec was due to retire on the 18th of this month and no elections are due in the near future. The next state election is due in November but the government showed extraordinary urgency and called an emergency meeting of the 3 member committee consisting of the Prime Minister the home minister and the leader of the opposition and finalized the name despite the dissent note of the LoP. It’s noteworthy that the Supreme Court is hearing a PIL against the 2024 act of the parliament which was brought in to overturn the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on setting up of a 3 member committee consisting of the PM,LoP and the CJI. The next date of hearing is on Wednesday and the government did not want to wait for it. This raises questions on the executive trying to scuttle judicial review and does not augur well for the general confidence on the judiciary.