New Delhi, April 17
Justice KM Joseph of the Supreme Court on Monday recused himself from hearing a PIL challenging the appointment of Arun Goel as an Election Commissioner.
Justice Joseph headed a Constitution Bench which had on March 2 ordered creation of a three-member panel to recommend names for appointment of CEC and ECs by the President. “List this matter before a Bench of which one of us (Justice KM Joseph) is not a member,” said the Bench that also included Justice BV Nagarathna.
The top court questioned petitioner ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ for challenging Goel’s appointment and sought to know which rules were violated. A Punjab-cadre IAS officer of 1985 batch, Goel was appointed Election Commissioner on November 19, 2022, a day after he took voluntary retirement.
