Supreme Court dismisses PIL against appointment of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner of India

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of Arun Goel as Election Commissioner of India [Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India and ors]..A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti relied on the fact that a Constitution Bench of the top court had earlier examined the files surrounding Goel's appointment and had refused to quash his selection..The apex court was hearing a PIL by an NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which challenged the appointment of Goel on the ground that it was arbitrary and violative of the institutional integrity and independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI).The petitioner pointed out that recently, a Constitution Bench headed by Justice KM Joseph (now retired) had rejected the argument by the Central government that Goel's appointment was recommended in view of his age, since he was the youngest of the four persons on a panel.The Court, in that judgment, had held that the panel was created only to oust the remaining candidates on the ground of age..In today's hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing ADR, stressed that the appointment was arbitrary and was cleared during the hearing of the Constitution Bench case.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central government, opposed the plea and stated that the petitioner wanted 'a second bite of the cherry'."These are busybodies. Everyone knows files in Constitutional appointments move in a day and not merely from one table to another," Mehta argued..Bhushan then added that the appointment was perhaps not quashed earlier as Goel was not a party to the proceedings.The Bench, however, eventually refused to entertain the PIL..Arun Goel, a retired IAS officer of the 1985 Punjab cadre, was appointed the Election Commissioner of India on November 19, 2022. A postgraduate in Development Economics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England, he started his career as District Election Officer/Collector in Punjab’s Bhatinda in 1993.