File photo: SC notice to ECI and CEC on INDIA bloc’s plea alleging large-scale voter deletions

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI), chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on a petition filed by Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi sought responses from the poll panel and the other respondents, and tagged the plea with matters already pending before the court concerning SIR.The petitioners have sought scrutiny of the ECI’s decision-making during the revision exercise, alleging that decisions were taken without adequate collective deliberation and that eligible voters were excluded without sufficient safeguards.The plea seeks disclosure of official records, including files, minutes, notings and objections recorded by election commissioners, as well as access logs relating to the ECINET and ERONET electoral-roll databases.The INDIA bloc leaders have also sought an independent audit of voter deletions, publication of booth-wise lists of deleted electors with reasons for their removal, and an effective mechanism to restore names deleted erroneously. They have raised concerns over alleged changes to Form 6, which is used to enrol new voters, and sought safeguards against deletion without notice and an opportunity to be heard.The petition does not seek to reopen the question of whether the ECI has the authority to conduct SIR, but challenges aspects of how the exercise has been implemented and the decisions taken in its course.During the hearing, the CJI also expressed concern over the conduct of one of the petitioners during the INDIA bloc’s October 12 march to the Supreme Court. The march, led by Rahul, was organised to protest alleged electoral irregularities and demand Kumar’s resignation.After lawyers raised objections to the procession, Surya Kant said nobody could “browbeat” the judiciary. He added, “We are not sitting in an ivory tower, we are aware of things.”

The court clarified that issuing notice on the SIR petition did not amount to condoning the conduct of the political leaders during the march. The CJI said the court wanted to question one of the petitioners about his conduct at the next hearing.The march followed the CJI’s decision to decline a meeting sought by Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to submit a memorandum on the SIR process and the functioning of the ECI. The CJI had said the issues were already pending before the court and advised the leaders to seek relief through judicial proceedings.