Justice KM Joseph recuses himself from hearing plea challenging Arun Goel's appointment as election commissioner

Representative image.

Supreme Court judge Justice KM Joseph on April 17 recused himself from hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of Arun Goel as an election commissioner.

The bench of the Supreme Court, which also comprised Justice BV Nagaratna, directed the registry of the court to place the case before another bench after hearing lawyer Prashant Bhushan who appeared for the petitioners in the case.

The PIL, which has been filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), challenges Goel’s appointment on the ground that it is arbitrary and violative of the institutional integrity and independence of the Election Commission of India.

Incidentally, Justice Joseph led the Constitution Bench which held that the panel was so created to oust the remaining candidates on the ground of age. Bhushan relied on the judgment to advance his case.

Goel, a retired IAS officer of the 1985 Punjab cadre, was appointed as the election commissioner of India on November 19, 2022, while the constitution bench was hearing the case. Goel is a postgraduate in Development Economics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England. He started his career as district election officer at Bhatinda in 1993.