Supreme Court will not hear the pleas on the appointment of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners today. The next date for hearing will be on March 19.

In his first remarks after taking charge, Gyanesh Kumar said, "The first step for nation-building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote. The Election Commission was, is, and will always be with the voters."

Mr Kumar's appointment - the notification was issued late last night - was made amid controversy after Rahul Gandhi and the Congress objected to his nomination.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra has moved Supreme Court in support of existing petitions seeking setting aside of government dominated panel for selection of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners. 

I have moved SC in support of existing petitions seeking setting aside of government dominated panel for selection of CEC/EC. Also suggested how independent selection process for CEC/EC can be ensured. Matter listed today. @MamataOfficial pic.twitter.com/qARSCDYFvk

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) February 19, 2025

Gyanesh Kumar, who was named as an Election Commissioner last year, has been appointed the next Chief Election Commissioner of India, replacing the outgoing Rajiv Kumar. Mr Kumar will oversee the conduct of the Bihar Assembly election later this year and the polls in Bengal, Assam, and Tamil Nadu next year. He took charge as the new poll chief this morning.

Mr Kumar's appointment came in a late-night development on Monday, within hours after a meeting of a three-member panel consisting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi. However, it has sparked a row as Mr Gandhi did not approve of the appointment.

The petitions against the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners under the 2023 law are being heard by the Supreme Court today.

The 2023 law gives the Centre a dominant role in the appointment process of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners.

The rule was that the CEC and the other two election commissioners will be picked by a Selection Committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister. 

Under the new rule, retired bureaucrats, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were appointed as Election  Commissioners days before last year's Lok Sabha Election.

Earlier, it was the Chief Justice of India who was part of the panel instead of a Union minister. Critics say the inclusion of the Prime Minister and a Union minister gives the government more power and spoils the neutrality of the committee.

Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge Wednesday morning as the new Chief Election Commissioner.

Mr Kumar replaces Rajiv Kumar in the role and will oversee the conduct of nearly two-dozen elections, state and presidential, over the course of his four-year term. The new CEC is an ex-IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, and earlier served in the Home Ministry, under current Home Minister Amit Shah. Among his key responsibilities were the drafting of a bill that scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Supreme Court is hearing pleas on the appointment of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners (ECs) under the 2023 law today.

According to these rules, the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a selection committee consisting of PM Modi as the Chairperson, a cabinet minister nominated by the PM - Amit Shah, and the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha. The law was challenged in the Supreme Court as the three-member panel allowed the Centre a dominant role.