Plea filed in SC against SIR decisions taken 'without' agreement of 2 election commissioners | India News

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking action against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over reports that he took decisions on special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls without the concurrence of the other two election commissioners.The petition, filed by lawyer Shailendra Mani Tripathi, also asked the court to declare the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decisions as illegal and sought an independent probe into the deletion of millions of names from the electoral rolls during SIR. It also sought a forensic audit of the ECINet and ERONet databases used in the SIR process across 30 states and union territories and asked the top court to ensure that the server logs, databases, communications and metadata relating to the applications are preserved from October 1, 2025.Also read: Jantar Mantar, Kolkata, Chandigarh streets: Congress launch nationwide protest against ECIThe petition came after a report in The Indian Express said Kumar’s two colleagues, election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had formally objected at least 14 times in the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the poll panel, including those related to the SIR of electoral rolls.The report also said that state officials in charge of electoral rolls found themselves unable to access the database because of a new technology backbone implemented by the Election Commission of India.The petition has also sought action against senior deputy election commissioner Manish Garg and ECI director general (Information Technology) Seema Khanna besides the CEC. The petition alleged Garg issued unauthorised work reallocation orders on July 28, bypassing the commission and attempting to “eliminate administrative oversight over the IT division”, which led the two ECs to petition the Cabinet Secretary.Also read: CJP's nationwide protest from Oct 2 if CEC Gyanesh Kumar doesn't resign: Abhijeet DipkeTo be sure, the ECI has refuted criticism of its functioning and reports of internal dissent, clarifying that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution; that all its digital platforms, including ECINet, operate under strict data security protocols to prevent unauthorised tampering or manipulation; and that all its actions were legal.The petition said Section 18 of the CEC and EC (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 provides that where the CEC and ECs differ, the matter is to be decided by majority.The plea, filed through advocate Chand Qureshi, has urged the court to set aside all “illegal” modifications to Form 6 and simultaneously direct its restoration to its original, unamended form. It also asked the court to quash the 1.6 million appeals pending before the election tribunals in West Bengal that challenge the inclusion of names in the roll.Also read: Gaurav Gogoi, other Congress leaders detained amid protest seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar's removalThe petition argued that the protection offered under Section 16 of the 2023 law, which shields the CEC from criminal proceedings, was only limited to actions performed "in the discharge or purported discharge of official duty”.“The act of CEC Gyanesh Kumar deliberately manipulating the electoral roll bears no reasonable nexus or legal connection to his official duties; such an act falls squarely outside the ambit of official immunity and constitutes distinct, personal criminal liability.”“When voter lists are willfully manipulated in direct contravention of the constitutional mandate to conduct free and fair elections, such conduct falls outside the purported discharge of duty, rendering the legal shield of Section 16 inapplicable,” it added.In such a scenario, divested of any statutory or constitutional immunity, the CEC remains directly accountable under the law — subject to police investigation, evidence gathering, and regular trial proceedings as an ordinary accused, the petition said. The petition comes days after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over decisions and orders related to the SIR, including changes to Form 6 and the management of electoral-roll data. According to the report, the objections concerned decisions allegedly taken without their knowledge or against their recommendations. What the plea allegesThe petitioner has also sought directions to the competent authority to register complaints and initiate prosecution under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against Kumar, senior deputy election commissioner Maneesh Garg, director general (IT) Seema Khanna and any other officials found responsible for the alleged breach of official duty, Live Law reported.The plea invokes Section 32, which provides for punishment for specified breaches of official duty relating to the preparation, revision or correction of electoral rolls.It alleges that the violations include unauthorised modifications to Form 6, centralisation of electoral-roll databases. Tripathi's plea reportedly also mentions the reported failure to restore eligible voters through the ECINet system and the filing of 16.10 lakh appeals in West Bengal challenging the inclusion of voters purportedly in the name of the ECI, the report added.The petition reportedly says that Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had objected to the alteration of Form 6 in May 2026, with Joshi noting that the statutory form could not be changed without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.Despite this, the plea alleges, Form 6 on the ECINet portal was modified to seek details of an applicant’s or their relatives’ presence in the previous SIR roll. Sandhu later recorded that the change was “unauthorised and illegal,” the report in Live Law said.What the plea seeksAccording to the report, the petitioner has sought an independent judicial inquiry or SIT headed by a retired SC judge and assisted by cybersecurity and IT experts to conduct a forensic audit of the ECINet and ERONet databases.The reported plea also seeks quashing of the alleged modifications to Form 6 on the ECINet and ERONet portals and restoration of the statutory form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.It further seeks preservation of server logs, databases, communications and metadata related to ECINet and ERONet from October 1, 2025, until the investigation is completed.