President assents to election law tweaks

The president on Monday assented to the Election Act (Amendment) Bill-2024, which empowered the chief election commissioner (CEC) to appoint retired judges to the election tribunals.

According to the new law, retired judges could be appointed to election tribunals. Earlier, an ordinance was promulgated in this regard, however, the Supreme Court criticised the introduction of ordinances in place of legislation.

The bill amended the Section 140 of the Election Act 2017. After the amendment, the chief justice of the high court concerned will be consulted in case of appointment of a serving judge to the election tribunal.