A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking registration of a criminal case and an investigation against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged arbitrary and unlawful changes to electoral rolls.
The petition cites a media report that said the other two Election Commissioners—Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi—had recorded written objections to several decisions, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. The petitioner claims the commissioners raised objections multiple times over the past 10 months.
According to the plea, stricter conditions were allegedly added to Form 6 for voter inclusion without statutory approval or rule amendments, and these were not withdrawn despite objections. It also alleges that powers of local electoral registration officers were curtailed and shifted to an IT wing in Delhi under the Director General.
The petition further refers to alleged actions linked to voter inclusion and deletion in Goa and West Bengal, including appeals filed without the knowledge of the other commissioners. It argues that legal protection under the relevant law applies only to acts done in official duty, and seeks criminal action for alleged overreach.
The PIL also asks the court to declare invalid all decisions, guidelines and software changes allegedly made without majority approval, to set up a special investigation team headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine large-scale deletions during SIR, and to restore the earlier legally recognised Form 6 process immediately.
