{
 "no": 30,
 "id": "case-30",
 "sk": 20231228,
 "year": 2023,
 "date": "Dec 2023",
 "cat": "Democratic institutions",
 "sev": "amber",
 "title": "Election Commission law. The Chief Justice written out",
 "stamp": "Watchdog's independence diluted",
 "human": {
  "v": "Every voter relying on a neutral referee for the vote",
  "est": false
 },
 "cost": {
  "v": "A selection panel re-tilted toward the government of the day",
  "est": true
 },
 "what": "A new law fixed the panel that appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners as the Prime Minister, a Union minister and the Leader of the Opposition, removing the Chief Justice of India, whom the Supreme Court had just placed on it.",
 "dodge": "Months after the Court tried to insulate the poll body by adding the Chief Justice, Parliament legislated the Chief Justice back out, handing the ruling side a built-in majority in choosing the referee of its own elections. The umpire's independence was diluted by law, and the government's convenience was the obvious winner.",
 "ministers": [
  {
   "n": "Arjun Ram Meghwal",
   "r": "Law and Justice Minister"
  }
 ],
 "pos": "The government said Parliament, not the judiciary, is entitled to design the appointment process.",
 "alt": "A genuinely independent selection panel, including the judiciary or another non-partisan check, so the referee does not answer to one team.",
 "sources": [
  {
   "label": "PRS summary of the CEC and ECs Bill, 2023",
   "url": "https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-chief-election-commissioner-and-other-election-commissioners-appointment-conditions-of-service-and-term-of-office-bill-2023",
   "tier": 2,
   "archiveUrl": "http://web.archive.org/web/20260504211806/https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-chief-election-commissioner-and-other-election-commissioners-appointment-conditions-of-service-and-term-of-office-bill-2023"
  },
  {
   "label": "Supreme Court, Anoop Baranwal v Union of India",
   "url": "https://indiankanoon.org/doc/56882156/",
   "tier": 1,
   "archiveUrl": "http://web.archive.org/web/20260507050925/https://indiankanoon.org/doc/56882156/"
  }
 ],
 "caseUrl": "https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-30/"
}