New Delhi, Feb. 19 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider granting an expedited hearing to a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of a 2023 law for the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs) - a day after Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as the next CEC amid resistance by the Congress.

Kumar, a Kerala-cadre IAS officer from the 1988 batch who retired as the secretary of the ministry of cooperation before being appointed as an election commissioner last year, was appointed as the new CEC by President Droupadi Murmu on Monday night. P10

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Hindustan Times....