GYANESH KUMAR FACES SCRUTINY OVER APPOINTMENT AND SIR-RELATED DISSENT

September 23, 2026 

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has come under renewed scrutiny following reports of differences within the Election Commission over aspects of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The controversy has also revived questions surrounding his appointment and the selection system introduced under the 2023 law governing the Election Commission.

Kumar, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, was appointed Chief Election Commissioner in February 2025. He and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had earlier been appointed Election Commissioners in March 2024 under the new selection framework, which replaced the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the Prime Minister in the selection committee. The appointment provisions have been challenged before the Supreme Court, which delivered a split verdict on Wednesday over whether the matter should be referred to a larger Constitution Bench.

The latest controversy follows an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months concerning electoral-roll management. Their objections reportedly covered changes to Form 6, voter additions and deletions, access to electoral-roll databases and aspects of the SIR process.

The Election Commission has not denied that objections were raised, but officials have maintained that decisions concerning the SIR were ultimately taken unanimously by all three commissioners. The Commission has also defended the SIR as an exercise intended to identify ineligible or duplicate entries while ensuring eligible voters remain on the rolls.

The developments have prompted renewed demands from several Opposition parties for Kumar's removal. These are political demands rather than findings by a court or other adjudicatory authority; the Election Commission has continued to maintain that its decisions were taken according to the applicable legal framework.