Gyanesh Kumar assumes charge as CEC; Vivek Joshi as EC
New Delhi: Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday assumed office as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, succeeding Rajiv Kumar, who demitted office a day earlier. Alongside, Vivek Joshi took charge as an Election Commissioner, completing the three-member Election Commission along with Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
Kumar, who was appointed an Election Commissioner in March 2024, was elevated to the position of CEC on Monday. Speaking after assuming charge, he underscored the importance of voting in a democracy.
“First step for nation-building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote,” Kumar stated. He further asserted, “The Election Commission was, is, and will always be with the voters.”
During his tenure as the CEC, Kumar will oversee crucial electoral events, including the Bihar Assembly elections later this year. The Kerala and Puducherry Assembly elections in 2026 will also come under his purview, along with the high-stakes polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal the same year. Additionally, he will oversee the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections in 2027.
Prior to his appointment in the Election Commission, Kumar retired as Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation in January 2024.
He has also held key positions in the Union Home Ministry, where he played a significant role in the implementation of decisions following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Ram Temple Trust after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ayodhya dispute.
Vivek Joshi, a former Haryana-cadre IAS officer, was also appointed as an Election Commissioner on Monday. Before joining the poll panel, he served as the Secretary in the Department of Financial Services.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of pleas challenging the appointment process of the CEC and Election Commissioners under the 2023 law. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh indicated that the matter would be listed after the Holi festival break due to a packed schedule. However, no specific date was given for the hearing.
Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), urged the court for an expedited hearing, emphasising that the matter required urgent attention.
“It is an important issue that requires urgent consideration,” Bhushan argued, adding that the legal question centred on whether the 2023 Constitution bench ruling, which called for a selection panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India, should prevail over the 2023 law, which excludes the Chief Justice from the process.
At around 3 PM, Justice Surya Kant informed Bhushan that he was assigned to a special bench and that multiple urgent matters were listed before the Holi break. Bhushan, in response, requested a hearing in the coming week, assuring that submissions would not take more than an hour.
Another petitioner, Jaya Thakur, represented by advocate Varun Thakur, also pressed for an early hearing, stating that the matter was “very important for the survival of democracy.”
However, Justice Surya Kant remarked that for the court, all matters were equally significant, and no single case was superior to others.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, expressed his inability to address the court on Wednesday, citing his engagement before the Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna on arbitration matters.
On February 18, the Supreme Court had stated that it would take up the pleas against the appointments under the 2023 law on a “priority basis.” Bhushan alleged that the government, by appointing the new CEC and ECs under the law, was making a “mockery of democracy.”
