Challenge To Election Commissioners' Law: Live Updates From Supreme Court

Farasat: if this principle applies in private law it applies with even more force in this present case. If independence of ECI goes haywire the entire democracy would be at stake.

Farasat: Your lordships in substance said that there cannot be executive dominance, bring the law. So they brought a law but with the same defect.

Farasat: in arbitration involving PSUs etc there used to be unilateral clauses. It was akin to having a "Home Umpire"

Farasat: in such a case the arbitrator would not be impartial as he would at the be sympathetic to one party. Presence (of executive) is not a problem but dominance is

Farasat: There are many instances where your lordships point out a substantive defect and procedural defect and the Parliament only deals with the procedural defect.And your lordships tell them to go back. This is not the first time this has happened.

Farasat: Article 324 give the power to the President to appoint. Anup Baranwal says that it cannot mean that there will be executive dominance

Farasat: And the impugned Act breaches the main rule itself, the substantive rule, when it includes two members of the executive and giving majority control to the executive.

Farasat: they make it very clear that non executive dominant selection committee is the substantive rule. Once that constitutional rule is there, it sets a bar and says that below this line whatever the legislature wants to do it can do but you cannot cross that constitutional bar.

Farasat: it said that the the procedure for following the constitutional substantive rule is through a law of Parliament. And the third it said that till the Parliament comes up with the law here is an interim arrangement

Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat appears for intervenor.

Farasat: this case is a classic challenge to section 7 and 8 of the Act on the basis of constitutionality. Relevance of Anup baranwal is that it frames a substantive rule of constitutional law regarding mechanism of appointment of CEC and EC

Parikh: Appointment of CEC and ECs has to be insulated from political whims.

Parikh concludes

Parikh: the principle of article 14 of the Constitution ie treating the political parties with an even hand. Anoop barnwal pointed out that if you are appointed and you are not independent what will happen thereby acting arbitrarily. Independently also the act is violative of articles 14 and 19