SC Grants Petitioners 10 Days in Plea Seeking Suspension of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Issues Notice to ECI

New Delhi: In a major development concerning the ongoing political clash over electoral roll management, the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday granted 10 days to petitioners, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and key leaders of the INDIA alliance, to respond to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) counter-affidavit.

The petitioners are seeking the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging administrative irregularities, "vote chori" (voter theft), and the non-consensual deletion of millions of names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana, formally issued a notice to the election watchdog to respond to all filed appeals. The matter has now been scheduled for its next detailed hearing on November 17.

Allegations and Opposition Mandate

The petitions brought forward by a united opposition coalition, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Supriya Sule, and other prominent leaders, accuse the Chief Election Commissioner of bypassing constitutional safeguards and acting unilaterally in executing the SIR exercise.

The opposition contends that millions of legitimate electors were struck off without adequate notice or an opportunity to be heard, violating constitutional principles under Articles 14, 21, and 326.

Furthermore, the petitioners allege that statutory approvals for key SIR directives issued in 2025 and 2026 lacked the mandatory collective concurrence of the full three-member commission, pointing to procedural flaws in how crucial policy orders were processed.

ECI Rejects Allegations in Detailed Counter-Affidavit

Countering the allegations, the Election Commission submitted a comprehensive 248-page affidavit robustly defending its operations and urging the apex court to dismiss the petitions summarily.

The poll body categorically rejected claims that voter registration forms, such as Form 6, were modified or tampered with, affirming that the SIR drives ordered on June 24, 2025; October 27, 2025; and May 14, 2026, were issued with unanimous consent.

Addressing the legal mandate under Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, and Article 324 of the Constitution, the ECI clarified the internal workflow for file approvals.

According to the commission, files move sequentially through the election commissioners before reaching the CEC, with finalised decisions bearing all necessary signatures. In urgent cases, approvals are secured electronically and recorded subsequently.

The poll body stressed that intermediate observations or notes raised by individual commissioners during file processing "do not constitute a decision" of the body, dismissing the opposition's claims as misconceptions.

With the notice formally served and 10 days granted to the petitioners to submit their rejoinders, the Supreme Court will review the complete legal record when the bench resumes proceedings on November 17.

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