A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking criminal prosecution of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged statutory violations during the SIR exercise.
The plea challenges alleged changes to Form 6, electoral database management and other decisions linked to voter rolls.
It cites reports of objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over SIR-related decisions.
Plea Filed In Supreme Court Seeking Criminal Proceedings Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar
The petition has sought a declaration that the Election Commission's actions, as revealed by a media report, were unconstitutional and invalid, while also seeking prosecution of officials allegedly responsible for violations related to electoral roll management
Summary
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking criminal action against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged violations of statutory duties during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Live Law reported.
The petition was filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi under Article 32 of the Constitution, the plea challenges several decisions, guidelines and software-related changes allegedly carried out during the SIR process without the approval of the other two Election Commissioners.
The petition has sought a declaration that these actions are unconstitutional and invalid, while also seeking prosecution of officials allegedly responsible for violations related to electoral roll management.
The plea comes after a report by The Indian Express claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months on decisions concerning the SIR exercise.
According to the report, the objections related to issues including changes in Form 6, voter additions and deletions, restoration of names and management of electoral-roll databases. The objections reportedly stated that some decisions were taken without the knowledge or concurrence of the two commissioners.
The Allegations
According to Live Law, the petitioner has sought directions to the competent authority to register complaints and initiate prosecution under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against Gyanesh Kumar, senior deputy election commissioner Maneesh Garg, director general (IT) Seema Khanna and other officials who may be found responsible.
Section 32 of the Act provides for punishment for certain breaches of official duty related to the preparation, revision and correction of electoral rolls.
The plea alleges that the SIR process involved unauthorised changes to Form 6, centralisation of electoral-roll databases and issues related to restoration of eligible voters through the ECINet system.
It also refers to the filing of 16.10 lakh appeals in West Bengal challenging voter inclusions, allegedly in the name of the Election Commission, the report said.
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Dispute Over Form 6 Changes
The petition reportedly refers to objections raised by Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu over modifications made to Form 6 in May 2026.
According to the plea, Joshi had noted that Form 6, being a statutory form under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, could not be altered without following the process for amending the rules.
Despite the objections, the plea alleges that Form 6 on the ECINet portal was modified to include a declaration asking applicants whether their own name or the name of a parent or grandparent appeared in a previous revision of electoral roll.
The petition cites Sandhu as later describing the modification as “unauthorised and illegal”.
Plea Seeks Independent Inquiry Or SIT
The petitioner has sought an independent judicial inquiry or a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, with assistance from cybersecurity and information technology experts, to conduct a forensic audit of the ECINet and ERONet databases, according to Live Law.
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The plea also seeks the removal of the alleged changes made to Form 6 on ECINet and ERONet portals and restoration of the statutory format prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Additionally, it has sought preservation of server logs, databases, communications and metadata related to ECINet and ERONet from October 1, 2025, until the completion of any investigation.
The petition follows the controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission after reports of internal objections raised by two commissioners on decisions related to the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has maintained that internal discussions and observations are part of institutional functioning and that decisions of the full commission were taken unanimously.
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