The Supreme Court will take up for consideration on February 12 abatch of PILs challenging the constitutionality of an Act that has no role for the Chief Justice of India in the selection of election commissioners.

The petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Rights (ADR), have argued that the “Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which excludes the CJI from the selection panel on the chief election commissioner (CEC), violates constitutional principles and the judiciary’s role in electoral matters.

The matter was listed for hearing on Tuesday but advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the ADR, told the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh on Monday that the hearing cannot be completed as the item featured at the 40th spot.

He sought an alternative date for detailed arguments.

Bhushan told the court that since incumbent CEC Rajiv Kumar was supposed to retire on February 18, there was an apprehension that the Centre would appoint a new CEC soon.

He wanted an order restraining the government from appointing a CEC pending adjudication by the top court on the batch of PILs.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, however, opposed the plea for any interim order. Mehta told the court that the Centre was ready to argue the case on merit and requested that the matter be listed for “final hearing”.

Heading the bench, Justice Kant said the matter would be heard on “merits” on February 12. “Basically, the real test here is between this court’s opinion and exercise of legislative powers,” Justice Kant observed.