SC asks Centre to produce file related to appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goel
New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Wednesday to produce before it the file related to the appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goel, who was appointed on November 19.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice K M Joseph said it wants to know whether there was any "hanky panky" in Goel's appointment as election commissioner as he was only recently given voluntary retirement from service.
The bench rejected the objections of Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani on the court willing to see the file related to Goel's appointment while the hearing is on.
Venkataramani told the bench, also comprising justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C T Ravikumar, that it is dealing with the larger issue of appointment of ECs and the chief election commissioner (CEC) and it cannot look at an individual case flagged by advocate Prashant Bhushan.
"I take serious objection to this and have my reservation to the court seeing the file amidst the hearing of a Constitution bench," he said.
The bench said it started hearing a batch of pleas seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of ECs and the CEC last Thursday and Goel was appointed as an EC subsequently on November 19. Therefore, it wants to see what prompted the step.
"We want to see what is the mechanism. We will not treat it as an adversarial and keep it for our record, but we want to know as you claim that everything is hunky dory. Since we were hearing the matter and appointment was made amidst, this may be interlinked. You have time till tomorrow. Produce the documents," it told the AG.
At the outset, Bhushan, who appeared on behalf of petitioner Anoop Baranwal and made his rejoinder submission, said after the court started hearing the mater, the government hurriedly appointed an election commissioner.
"This election commissioner was, till Thursday, working as a secretary-level officer in the government. Suddenly, he was given VRS on Friday and appointed as an election commissioner," Bhushan said. Justice Joseph said as far he recalls, it takes three months for a person to get voluntary retirement.
On November 19, Goel, a 1985-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Punjab cadre, was appointed as an election commissioner. He was to retire on December 31 on attaining the age of 60 years.
Once he assumes his new role, Goel would be in line to be the next CEC after incumbent Rajiv Kumar demits office in February 2025. He will join Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey on the poll panel.
There was a vacancy in the Election Commission (EC) following the retirement of previous CEC Sushil Chandra in May. Goel was the secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries till recently and his voluntary retirement came into effect on November 18. He has also served in the Union culture ministry.
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3 killed, 15 injured in fire after blast at firecracker unit in MP's Dewas; CM orders probe
Dewas/Indore (PTI): At least three workers were killed and 15 persons injured after a fire broke out following an explosion at a firecracker factory in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district on Thursday, an official said.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the incident and ordered an investigation. The state government will provide an assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased, and the injured will receive free treatment, he said in a post on X.
Three persons were killed in the fire at the firecracker unit located in Tonk Kalan area, and around 15 injured persons were sent to hospitals in Indore and Dewas, Collector Rituraj Singh told reporters after inspecting the site.
Videos of the aftermath surfaced on social media, showing thick white smoke billowing from the factory along the Agra–Mumbai national highway. The clips also showed people rushing the injured for treatment amid cries for help, with body parts seen scattered at the site.
The collector said the fire has been brought under control. The administration has taken possession of explosives stored at another location within the unit, he said.
The work to manufacture small firecrackers at the factory of a person named Anil Malviya had begun only 15 days ago, and a licence has been issued for the unit, the collector said.
A detailed investigation is underway into the incident, he added.
CM Yadav said, "I have directed Deputy Chief Minister and Dewas district guardian minister Jagdish Devda, the home secretary and senior officials to visit the spot. An inquiry has also been ordered into the incident."
Local residents said there was a massive explosion at the factory, and the victims' body parts were found scattered far away from the site.
They said construction work was underway at the site and different sheds were being built there.
