SIR row reaches Supreme Court: Plea seeks action against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, probe into 13 crore voter deletions
PTC Web Desk: The controversy surrounding the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has reached the Supreme Court, with a fresh petition seeking action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged violations of statutory duties.
The petition, filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi through advocate Chand Qureshi, seeks criminal prosecution of Kumar and two other senior Election Commission officials in connection with decisions allegedly taken during the SIR exercise.
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The petitioner has alleged that some decisions, directions and changes to the Election Commission's software were introduced without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners. The plea has asked the Supreme Court to declare such decisions illegal and set them aside.
Plea targets three senior ECI officials
Apart from CEC Gyanesh Kumar, the petition names Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and Director General (IT) Seema Khanna.
The petitioner has sought directions for initiating criminal proceedings under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, alleging breaches of statutory duties connected with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls.
The plea also challenges changes allegedly made to the voter registration process and seeks restoration of the original Form 6, the statutory form used for inclusion of names in electoral rolls.
SIT probe sought into alleged deletion of 13 crore names
One of the major demands in the petition is an independent investigation into the alleged removal of around 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls during the SIR exercise across 30 states and Union Territories.
The petitioner has proposed a judicial inquiry or an SIT headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, with technical and cybersecurity experts assisting the investigation.
The proposed probe would examine the process through which names were added, removed or restored, besides looking into the handling and centralisation of electoral data on the ECI's digital systems.
The figure of 13 crore relates to names reportedly absent from draft rolls during the SIR exercise.
Disagreement among Election Commissioners cited
The petition relies in part on a report by The Indian Express concerning differences recorded by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
According to the report cited in the plea, the two commissioners recorded objections on at least 14 occasions between November 2025 and August 2026 over decisions relating to SIR.
The issues reportedly included changes to Form 6, deletion and restoration of voter names and the management and centralisation of electoral-roll data. The petition alleges that some of these decisions were taken without the knowledge or agreement of the two commissioners.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that decisions taken during the past year, including those connected with SIR, were unanimous. The poll body has also said that differences of opinion and comments during internal deliberations are a normal part of institutional decision-making.
Plea also challenges software changes
The petition has raised questions over alleged changes made to the ECI's digital systems, including modifications connected with ECINET and ERONET.
It seeks preservation of relevant server logs, databases, communications and metadata so that the digital records can be examined as part of any investigation.
The petitioner has also sought directions concerning the restoration of the statutory Form 6 and the process through which eligible voters can seek inclusion in electoral rolls.
- PTC NEWS
