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

Sankarnarayanan: this court laid down Vishakha guidelines in line with Beijing Declaration. Imagine if the Parliament had come up with a law which undermined the Vishakha guidelines.

Sankarnarayanan concludes. Petitioners' arguments to continue tomorrow.

Sankarnarayanan: the only way the judgement can be done around is by way of a Constitutional Amendment which they have not done.

Sankarnarayanan: if they have not amended the constitution and the constitution bench has given a unanimous judgement that executive cannot have exclusive control over appointment, then this law cannot stand.

Sankarnarayanan: they have not remove the basis of the judgement. The question is what kind of law they can make. Can they make a law which says that exclusively executive has the power to appoint? The answer is no as per the judgement in Anoop Baranwal. Do they have to include CJI in the committee? No. But the committee should not be controlled exclusively by the executive.

Sankarnarayanan: Anoop Baranwal laid down the norms till a law is made. The idea was that the law made will be consistent with the judgement

Hansaria to continue his arguments tomorrow.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan permitted to argue as he expressed difficulty in appearing tomorrow.

J Datta: the fact that the CEC cannot be removed except by the procedure followed to remove a judge of the Supreme Court itself shows the width of his power.

Hansaria takes the Court through powers of the ECI.

Hansaria: what is important is disqualification for corrupt practice.

Hansaria reads out parliamentary debate on the impugned Act: if the Prime Minister and his Minister is going to be the majority then why have a committee at all? They want a pocket board. This law is an attempt to consolidate undue total control of executive over the ECI.

J Datta: Supreme Court cannot direct making a law. Aren't these observations over 300 pages a justification for what the court laid down for a short period till the law is made? Can you say that the law also has to follow those observations?

Hansaria: the judgement is derived from the constitutional principle that it cannot be left to the executive alone.