Petition filed in Supreme Court against CEC Gyanesh Kumar
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar regarding violations related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi has sought the initiation of criminal proceedings against Gyanesh Kumar and other officials under Article 32 of the Constitution.
According to a report by Live Law, the petition filed in the Supreme Court also demands a declaration that decisions taken without the consent of the other two election commissioners, or against their majority opinion, along with issued guidelines and changes made in the software, are unconstitutional and invalid from the outset.
This petition was filed a few days after a report by The Indian Express , which stated that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times regarding decisions and orders related to the SIR. According to the report, these included changes in Form 6 and issues related to the management of voter list data. Some decisions were taken without their knowledge or against their recommendations.
The petitioner has requested the Supreme Court to direct the competent authority to,
file a complaint against Gyanesh Kumar, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Manish Garg, Director General (IT) Seema Khanna, and other officials found responsible under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. This section provides for punishment for violations of certain official duties related to the preparation, revision, or correction of the voter list.
The petition alleges that,
changes were made in Form 6 without authority and consensus, the database of voter lists was centralized, and names of eligible voters were not restored through the ECINet system. It also alleges that 16.10 lakh appeals challenging the inclusion of voters' names in West Bengal were filed in the name of the Election Commission.
The petitioner has cited Section 18 of the 2023 Act concerning the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners. According to this provision, in case of differences between the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners, decisions should be made by majority opinion.
According to the petition,
in May 2026, Vivek Joshi objected to changes in Form 6, stating that the statutory form cannot be changed without relevant amendments to the Voter Registration Rules, 1960. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu also agreed with this objection. Nevertheless, the petition alleges that a change was made in ECINet portal regarding Form 6, which sought information related to the presence of the applicant or their relatives in the previous SIR voter list. According to the petition, Sandhu later termed this change as ‘unauthorized and illegal’.
The petitioner has demanded the formation of an independent judicial inquiry commission or Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, which should also include cybersecurity and IT experts. The proposed investigation is to conduct a forensic audit of the ECINet and ERONet databases and investigate the circumstances under which 13 crore names were removed during the SIR across 30 states and union territories. There is also a demand to establish individual accountability in the case of filing 16.10 lakh appeals in West Bengal.
The petition demands the cancellation of changes made in ECINet and ERONet portal regarding Form 6 and the restoration of the original form as prescribed in the rules. Additionally, there is a request to annul the alleged 16.10 lakh appeals filed in the name of the Election Commission in the appellate tribunals of West Bengal. Instructions have also been sought to preserve server logs, databases, communication records, and metadata related to ECINet and ERONet until the investigation is completed.
The petition names the Union of India, the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Cabinet Secretary, Manish Garg, and Seema Khanna as respondents. The Supreme Court's decision on the allegations made in the petition is still pending.