Supreme Court to consider a plea to recall the split verdict on the law governing appointment of Election Commissioners

8 October 2026

On October 7, 2026 a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was told of an application to recall a split verdict of September 23, 2026.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan mentioned the application before the bench, and the Chief Justice said the Court would examine it and take a call.
The September 23 verdict was on whether challenges to the law governing appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners should go to a larger bench.
That bench comprised Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. Justice Datta rejected the Centre's request for a larger bench reference while Justice Sharma supported it, and they left it to the Chief Justice to consider constituting a Constitution Bench.
The petitions challenge Sections 7 and 8 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
Those provisions set up a selection committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister.
The petitions also question the appointments of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.