India, Feb. 18 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider an expedited hearing of a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of the new law providing 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 from the main Opposition Congress.

President Droupadi Murmu appointed Kumar, a Kerala cadre Indian Administrative Service officer from the 1988 batch who retired as the cooperation ministry secretary before being appointed as an election commissioner last year, as the CEC late on Monday night.

The appointment came hours after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee proposed his name as the top poll off...