The Supreme Court is set to hear on October 5 a batch of pleas seeking the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, exercise.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana will hear petitions filed by Rakesh Kumar Singh and advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi.
The pleas question decisions, guidelines and software changes allegedly introduced by Kumar without the approval of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. They follow a report claiming the two commissioners had objected to decisions taken in the Election Commission’s name at least 14 times over 10 months.
The reported disputes included changes to Form 6, centralisation of ERONet controls, voter deletion appeals in West Bengal and issues concerning eligible voters in Goa. The Election Commission, however, said all its decisions were unanimous.
One plea also challenges changes to Form 6, alleging that requirements for ancestral details and links to previous SIR were added through software rather than the prescribed statutory process.
The petitions seek action over alleged violations of collective decision-making by the poll body.
