SIR ROW: PLEA IN SUPREME COURT SEEKS CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF CEC GYANESH KUMAR

September 25, 2026

NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking criminal prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged violations of statutory duties in connection with the Election Commission’s nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The petition also seeks a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry into the alleged deletion of around 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls.

Filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi through advocate Chand Qureshi, the plea seeks declarations that decisions, guidelines and software changes allegedly undertaken by Kumar without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners were unconstitutional and void. It has also sought restoration of the original Form 6 used for voter registration.

The petition has named Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and Election Commission IT head Seema Khanna as well, seeking their prosecution for alleged violations of duties under the Representation of the People Act. It refers to reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions concerning SIR-related decisions, including changes to Form 6 and the handling, deletion and restoration of electoral-roll data.

The plea comes amid continuing scrutiny of the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has maintained that decisions taken during the past year were unanimous, while reports cited in the petition have documented differences among the three commissioners over aspects of the electoral-roll revision process.