NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna announced on Tuesday that he would recuse himself from a set of petitions contesting the decision to exclude the CJI from the panel responsible for selecting the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other election commissioners.
During the proceedings, Justice Khanna, sitting with Justice Sanjay Kumar, informed the lawyers representing the PIL petitioners that he was unable to hear their cases.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and attorney Prashant Bhushan pointed out that a prior bench led by Justice Khanna had issued interim orders related to this issue. Following his appointment as the 51st CJI after the departure of former CJI D Y Chandrachud, Justice Khanna noted that the cases would be assigned to a different bench after the winter recess.
He also instructed the Centre and other parties to submit their responses to the PILs in the meantime.
A number of individuals, including an NGO, have contested the legality of Section 7 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which removes the CJI from the selection panel for the CEC and ECs. (Agencies)
