Guwahati: Over 2,000 citizens from across India have signed an open letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant seeking suo motu proceedings into the operational and administrative conduct of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the deployment of ECINet.
The letter seeks an immediate stay and rescission of the SIR exercise across all states and Union Territories pending an independent judicial review of its legality and procedural integrity, citing new facts that have emerged.
The signatories have also sought an independent, court-monitored investigation into allegations of arbitrary and unauthorised changes to voter registration software and forms.
The letter seeks directions for “appropriate penal/procedural action” against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and officials over alleged violations of statutory procedures and the constitutional mandate of the multi-member Election Commission.
It also calls for a comprehensive security and legal audit of the ECINet software platform by an independent expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court. The proposed audit would examine whether control over the system complies with the statutory role of local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and whether any persons other than authorised officials had access to the platform.
The signatories have further urged the court to order the immediate reinstatement of voters whose names were deleted because of alleged technical glitches, software locks or unauthorised procedural changes.
“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of Indian democracy and form part of the basic structure of our Constitution,” the letter said, arguing that judicial intervention was necessary when safeguards governing electoral rolls are allegedly compromised.
The signatories include academics, former public officials, lawyers, journalists, writers, artists and human rights activists. Among them are independent academic Aditya Nigam, filmmaker Aditya Seth, retired Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, retired IAS officer Aditi Mehta, advocate Prashant Bhushan and actor Prakash Raj.