NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal on Sunday escalated the political row over the Election Commission‘s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), accusing chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of taking “unilateral decisions” and demanding his removal from office.Sibal also urged the Supreme Court to examine the Election Commission’s records, dissent notes and orders issued during the period under question, and consider nullifying elections conducted during the 10-month period he referred to.The former Union minister’s remarks came amid a controversy over internal objections raised by election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi regarding decisions related to electoral rolls, the EC’s IT systems and the SIR exercise.
Sibal alleges unilateral decision-making
According to Sibal, the Election Commission’s own statement issued on Saturday acknowledged that decisions had not been taken unanimously over the past several months. He alleged that Kumar had taken decisions “unilaterally” rather than through the full three-member Commission.Sibal claimed that Commission meetings were conducted without agendas being circulated or minutes being recorded, preventing the other commissioners from reviewing or commenting on decisions.He said the alleged practices covered 10 months, including elections held in Bihar in June 2025 and West Bengal in April.The allegations follow a report by The Indian Express, which said Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders that they said were issued without their knowledge.Sibal also alleged that decisions concerning additions and deletions of voters were centralised in Delhi through ECI NET under Seema Khanna, who managed its operations, instead of being handled by statutory Electoral Registration Officers.He demanded that an FIR be registered against Khanna and that she be arrested, arguing that unlike the CEC, she does not have statutory immunity from criminal prosecution.Sibal also alleged that changes were made to Form 6, used for new voter registration, requiring details of parents or grandparents without the central government issuing the required notification.
EC responds to concerns over SIR and electoral rolls
The Election Commission on Saturday announced several decisions addressing issues that Sandhu and Joshi had raised in their internal communications.On Form 6, the EC said the additional declaration requiring new voters to provide details of their own or their parents’ or grandparents’ entries in the electoral roll from the previous SIR had been upheld by the Supreme Court.It said the additional requirement was specific to the SIR exercise and that regular statutory forms would continue to be used outside an SIR.On access to electoral-roll databases, the EC said field officers have role-based access to ECINET according to their statutory powers. It also announced a review by a committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner and including an independent IIT or IIIT expert to “double-check” the system’s compliance with election laws and rules.The Commission further said agendas for all meetings would be circulated in advance and minutes issued, while directions issued by commissioners to EC officers would be complied with.
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On the IT division, the EC said disputed changes in the distribution of work were never implemented after Sandhu and Joshi intervened, and that oversight of the division by the deputy election commissioner was never withdrawn.Sibal, however, claimed that the alleged irregularities meant elections conducted from Bihar through West Bengal during the period were “illegal”. He called on the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the matter and consider whether recent elections should be annulled.The opposition has also demanded Kumar’s removal and an independent review of decisions and electoral-roll changes made during his tenure.
