SC refuses to stay appointment of new election commissioners

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the appointment of two newly appointed Election Commissioners - Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu - under a 2023 law that excluded the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel.

Refusing to stay the appointments, the bench said, "Normally and generally, we do not stay a law by way of an interim order." It deferred the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the appointment of two ECs under the 2023 law.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih told the petitioners, who pointed out that a meeting for the selection of ECs was pre-poned, to file a separate application.

The court will hear the matter on Thursday.