PIL in Supreme Court Seeks Prosecution of CEC Gyanesh Kumar Over SIR Decisions
A PIL before the Supreme Court seeks prosecution of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and an SIT probe into the removal of 13 crore voters from electoral rolls during the SIR.
A Public Interest Litigation has been filed before the Supreme Court against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, amid an ongoing controversy over how decisions are being made at the Election Commission.
The petition, moved by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, draws on media reports about key decisions taken by the commission. It alleges that several decisions concerning the electoral process were made without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners.
The PIL asks the court to declare such decisions, guidelines and software modifications — allegedly undertaken by Kumar without the agreement of his fellow commissioners — unconstitutional and void. It also seeks to have them declared illegal and demands the reinstatement of the original Form 6.
In addition, the petition calls for a Special Investigation Team probe into how the names of 13 crore voters were removed from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
It further seeks the prosecution of Gyanesh Kumar, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and Director General (IT) Seema Khanna for alleged dereliction of duty under the Representation of the People Act.
The CEC has been under scrutiny since a report stated that the objections of Election Commissioners — including on the SIR of voter rolls — were being ignored. The report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over decisions and orders concerning the SIR, including changes to Form 6 and the management of electoral-roll data. The objections were said to relate to decisions allegedly taken without their knowledge or against their recommendations.
The poll body responded by saying that all decisions taken by it in the last one year were unanimous, and that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution.
The Opposition has also targeted the CEC since the report emerged. At a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi called Kumar a "traitor", demanded his resignation and warned that the Congress would not stay silent while democracy in India was being "destroyed".