All eyes are on the Supreme Court which will examine the law on appointing members of the Election Commission as its validity has been challenged for not having the chief justice of India as a member of the selection panel. The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, which came into force in December 2023, was first used to appoint Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu as Election Commissioners in March 2024 to fill up the vacancies created following the resignation of Arun Goel and retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey. With Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar demitting office on February 18 on attaining the age of 65, the law will be applied for the first time to appoint a CEC. Before the new law on the appointment of CEC and ECs came into force, the election commissioners were appointed by the President on the government's recommendation. And as per convention, the senior-most Election Commissioner was ...