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 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The petition, filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi through advocate Chand Qureshi, seeks to declare decisions, guidelines and software modifications allegedly undertaken by Kumar without the concurrence of the two Election Commissioners unconstitutional and void.
It also seeks a declaration that decisions relating to the SIR are illegal and calls for restoration of the original Form 6.
SIT probe sought into alleged voter deletions
The petitioner has sought an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged deletion of around 13 crore voters from electoral rolls during the revision exercise.
The plea also seeks criminal prosecution of Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and Seema Khanna, the Election Commission's IT head, alleging violations of their statutory duties under the Representation of the People Act.
Plea cites report on objections by two ECs
The petition comes days after an Indian Express report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over decisions and orders concerning the SIR.
According to the report, the objections concerned decisions allegedly taken without their knowledge or against their recommendations. The issues included changes to Form 6, deletion and restoration of names from electoral rolls and the handling of electoral-roll data.
ECI says decisions were unanimous
Referring to the report, the petition said the three-member Election Commission had witnessed repeated differences over decisions concerning the SIR.
The Indian Express report said Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections over changes to Form 6, deletion and restoration of names and the handling and centralisation of electoral-roll data.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that decisions taken during the past year, including those relating to the SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three commissioners.
The plea comes amid continued legal and political scrutiny of the SIR exercise. The Indian Express reported that the exercise had resulted in more than 13 crore names being removed from draft rolls across 30 states and Union territories.