“Tyranny of the Elected”: Supreme Court Questions Delay in Election Commission Reforms

The Supreme Court strongly criticised successive governments for failing to enact a law ensuring the independent functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Hearing challenges to the 2023 law governing appointments of Election Commissioners, Justice Dipankar Datta remarked that concerns about the “tyranny of the unelected” should now be seen as the “tyranny of the elected.”

The Bench observed that every government, once in power, appeared reluctant to create an independent appointment mechanism.

The petitions challenge the 2023 law for excluding the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel, allegedly diluting the independence of the ECI and violating the principle of free and fair elections.