- Bombay HC petition challenges ECI actions, Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
- Plea questions collective decisions, citing reported internal objections.
- Opposition demands CEC resignation; ECI denies internal differences.
- Petitioners seek halt to SIR, independent probe of irregularities.
A petition has been filed before the Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay High Court challenging 14 administrative actions of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The petition has been filed by Prathamesh Gopal Gavankar, Gaurav Suryakant Nakhrekar, Aadesh Shashikant Bhatkar and Smitali Nilesh Narvekar, with a team of lawyers led by advocate Asim Sarode representing the petitioners. The Central Election Commission, Kumar, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, and the Maharashtra State Election Commission have been named as respondents.
The plea raises questions over voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, electoral-roll databases, the functioning of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and the ECINet system. It also questions whether decisions of the poll panel were taken collectively as required under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023.
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What The Bombay HC Petition Seeks
The petitioners have sought a halt to the SIR exercise in Maharashtra and the restoration of names removed from the electoral rolls during the process. They have also sought an independent judicial committee headed by a retired High Court judge to examine the alleged irregularities.
The plea refers to a September 23 investigation by The Indian Express, which reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over a 10-month period to decisions and orders concerning electoral-roll management. The reported objections covered issues including voter registration, deletion of names, electoral-roll data and election-related software.
The petition also raises questions about changes made to Form 6, which is used for voter registration, as well as the functioning of the ECINet system. The petitioners have asked the High Court to examine whether the Commission’s decisions complied with the requirement of collective decision-making under the 2023 law.
Election Commission Rejects Claims Of Internal Rift
The ECI has rejected the suggestion that decisions were taken without the approval of the full Commission. In a statement issued after the Indian Express report, the poll panel said all its decisions, including those concerning SIR, were the outcome of unanimous decisions of the full Commission.
The Indian Express report, meanwhile, said Sandhu and Joshi had formally objected to several decisions and orders, including matters involving Form 6, electoral-roll databases and voter deletion appeals. The report said the objections were recorded on at least 14 occasions over the previous 10 months.
The dispute over the Commission’s internal decision-making has since triggered a wider political confrontation, with Opposition parties demanding action against Kumar and questioning the conduct of the SIR exercise. The BJP has rejected the allegations and defended the Commission’s functioning.
Rahul Gandhi, Opposition Step Up Attack
The controversy intensified on Thursday after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi demanded Kumar’s resignation. Gandhi questioned the functioning of the Election Commission while referring to the reported objections raised by the two Election Commissioners.
The Opposition has also announced protests and discussed moving a motion in Parliament seeking Kumar’s removal. Congress has planned a march to Election Commission offices, while other Opposition parties have announced separate actions over the SIR exercise and the reported disagreements within the poll panel.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra also submitted a complaint against Kumar at the Parliament Street police station in New Delhi, seeking registration of an FIR over allegations linked to the handling of electoral rolls. Police had not registered an FIR at the time of the latest reports.
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CJP Issues 48-Hour Ultimatum
The Cockroach Janta Party’s Abhijit Dipke has separately demanded Kumar’s resignation within 48 hours and threatened a nationwide agitation if he does not step down. The demand forms part of the party’s campaign against the SIR exercise and alleged irregularities in the electoral process. These remain allegations and political demands, not findings established by a court.
The BJP has rejected the Opposition’s allegations. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi questioned the basis of Rahul Gandhi’s claims and argued that the reported differences did not establish that the final decisions of the Election Commission had been taken without the approval of the full panel.
The row has therefore moved beyond the SIR process itself, with the Bombay High Court petition now placing specific administrative decisions and the question of collective decision-making before the judiciary. The court’s response to the petition will determine how the legal challenge proceeds.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
