Guwahati: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking action against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged decisions taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls despite objections from two of the three Election Commissioners.
The petition was filed days after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions to decisions and orders concerning the SIR exercise.
The plea filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi seeks a declaration that decisions taken by the ECI without the concurrence of a majority of Election Commissioners are illegal and void, Bar and Bench reported.
The petitioner has also sought a declaration that decisions, guidelines, directives and software modifications “initiated, approved, or implemented” under CEC Gyanesh Kumar without full Commission concurrence, or contrary to the majority opinion of the Election Commissioners under Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, be declared unconstitutional, ultra vires and void ab initio.
The plea has sought action against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Manish Garg and Director General (Information Technology) of the ECI Seema Khanna.
It has also sought directions to the competent statutory authority to register complaints and initiate prosecution under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against the respondents and any other officers found guilty of deliberate breach of official duty.
According to the petition, official files allegedly show that between November 2025 and August 2026, Sandhu and Joshi formally recorded written dissents and objections on at least 14 occasions against decisions allegedly taken and executed in the name of the Commission without authorisation. The petition claims that four such objections were recorded on a single day.
The petitioner has further sought a probe by a judicial inquiry commission or a special investigation team (SIT) into the alleged deletion of 13 crore voters from electoral rolls during the SIR exercise.
The plea also seeks restoration of statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and permission for all eligible adults to register as voters on the basis of the original statutory requirements.
The petition was filed through advocate Chand Qureshi, according to Bar and Bench.