New Delhi, 25 September (H.S.): A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking criminal proceedings against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The petition alleges that Kumar failed to discharge his constitutional responsibilities in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It further alleges that the two Election Commissioners were not consulted or their concurrence obtained regarding decisions taken during the SIR and changes made to the software used in the exercise.

The petition, filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, seeks a declaration that all decisions taken by the Election Commission in connection with the SIR be held unlawful and that Form 6 be restored to its original format. It also seeks an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged deletion of the names of around 13 crore voters during the SIR. The petition further seeks initiation of criminal proceedings against Gyanesh Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner Manish Garg and Election Commission IT chief Seema Khanna.

The petition comes against the backdrop of a newspaper report stating that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded their objections at least 14 times during the SIR. According to the report, their objections related to decisions that were taken contrary to their recommendations. The report further stated that the objections raised by the two Election Commissioners concerning Form 6 and the management of electoral rolls were not accepted.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar