This came two days after The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections against decisions taken in the commission’s name. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi unanimously approved every order issued for the revision of electoral rolls, sources in the poll body said on Friday.
The row has also reached the Supreme Court. It demands that he be investigated and tried like any other accused. Because the state falls under unique provisions of India’s Citizenship Act, unlike the other states, Assam underwent a Special Revision of its rolls rather than SIR.
Section 21(3) empowers the Commission to direct a special revision of the electoral roll at any time. Form 6, the application form for enrolling new voters, is one of the major flashpoints of the row. A petition filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi argues that Gyanesh Kumar cannot claim the immunity granted to commissioners under Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023. Section 16 bars courts from hearing civil or criminal cases against serving or former commissioners over acts done in the course of official duty.
“Both the Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner have unanimously approved the SIR [Special Intensive Revision] orders for Bihar, SR [Special Revision] orders of Assam, SIR orders for 12 states and UTs, and then SIR orders for 19 States/UTs,” the sources said. The sources said the approved orders include a Declaration Form to be submitted along with Form 6 by new voters, “to reduce paperwork and for the ease of citizens”. They said this was “in line with Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950”, and “has also been upheld by the Supreme Court”. A petition in the Supreme Court alleges that a condition requiring first-time voters to establish a link to the last SIR was introduced without legislative authority, and was branded “unauthorised and illegal” by a majority of the commissioners. Sandhu and Joshi have not spoken publicly about the objections attributed to them, though the EC has not denied such objections but only said that the final decisions were all unanimous as per the record.
