SC bench recuses from hearing plea challenging appointment of Arun Goel as EC

The Supreme Court bench headed by justice KM Joseph on Monday recused from hearing a plea challenging appointment of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner.

The bench said the petition has relied on a March 2 verdict of the constitution bench headed by Justice Joseph which had ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners (ECs) will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee comprising the prime minister, leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the “purity of election”.

The fresh petition filed by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) questioned Goel’s appointment as being arbitrary and against the principle of institutional integrity.

Also Read:‘Tearing hurry’ in clearing Election Commissioner Arun Goel’s file? asks SC

Hearing the petition before deciding to recuse, the bench of justices Joseph and BV Nagarathna raised several doubts over entertaining the petition.

It said, “The appointment may have been done in a tearing hurry or under a sly or whatever you may say. But for issuing a writ of quo warranto (questioning the appointment of Goel) which rule has been violated.”

Advocate Prashant Bhushan quoted from the judgment of the Constitution bench of March 2 to suggest that there were 160 IAS officers belonging to the 1985 batch (to which Goel belonged) and some of them even younger than Goel who were not considered for the post.

He raised questions on the manner in which the government prepared the panel to suit Goel’s appointment.

“His appointment was arbitrary, and it raises issues of institutional integrity as a person appointed to such a sensitive position should not owe anything to the Government,” Bhushan argued.

The bench said, “After appointment to a constitutional office, it is a different matter altogether. You cannot say because of this selection, he (Goel) will not be an independent officer and will be government’s yes man. The appointment is as per rule and there is no point going back when there was a system prevailing.”

Further on the application of the Constitution bench judgment, the bench said, “You cannot rely on our judgment (of March 2). Under the law as it stood then, even if the action is arbitrary, how do we interfere?”

Bhushan further cited that Goel took voluntary retirement as secretary, Ministry of heavy industries on November 18 and it was cleared within 24 hours.

He said that any application for voluntary retirement requires a prior notice of three months which stood violated in this case. But the bench told Bhushan, “We cannot be sitting in judgment over tendering and acceptance of his voluntary retirement. That cannot be the subject matter of a PIL.”