Over 2,000 citizens write to CJI seeking stay on SIR, probe into EC functioning

• Over 2,000 citizens have urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of alleged irregularities in the EC’s SIR exercise

• The open letter alleges internal dissent among election commissioners, unauthorised changes to Form 6 and centralised control of voter data

• Signatories include former Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar, economists Jayati Ghosh and Kamal Malhotra, and retired professors Aditya and Mridula Mukherjee

More than 2,000 citizens, including academics, lawyers, former civil servants, activists, journalists and retired military personnel, have written an open letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and other Supreme Court judges seeking urgent judicial intervention over the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The signatories have urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of what they describe as 'grave irregularities, institutional rupture, and alleged illegalities' in the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of electoral roll data.

The letter, titled ‘An Open Letter to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and Companion Justices of the Supreme Court of India’, seeks an immediate stay and cancellation of the SIR exercise, an independent investigation into the functioning of the ECI and a comprehensive audit of its centralised ECINet technology platform.

Among the prominent signatories are former Rajya Sabha MP and former government secretary Jawhar Sircar, economists Jayati Ghosh and Kamal Malhotra, retired JNU professors Aditya Mukherjee and Mridula Mukherjee, retired Navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, retired Delhi University professor Anita Rampal, retired scientist Gauhar Raza and activist Anjali Bhardwaj. The letter is submitted by Aditya Mukherjee, Mridula Mukherjee, Bhardwaj, Raza, Amrita Johri and Shabnam Hashmi on behalf of the more than 2,000 citizens.

A central allegation in the letter concerns what the signatories describe as internal dissent within the three-member ECI. Citing official records, they claim election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to decisions they said had been taken without their knowledge or consent.

The letter argues that Article 324 requires collective decision-making by the multi-member commission and alleges that operational directives and software changes were implemented unilaterally under chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar despite written objections from the other commissioners.

The signatories have also raised objections to changes made to Form 6, which is used for new voter registration. According to the letter, first-time voters were required to declare whether their names or those of their parents appeared in earlier SIR rolls.

It cites an objection recorded by Sandhu, who described the change as 'unauthorised and illegal', and alleges that the modification remained in force despite the objection.

Another major concern raised is the centralisation of electoral data and operations through ECINet. The letter refers to Section 13B of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and argues that Electoral Registration Officers are the statutory authorities empowered to add, modify or delete names from electoral rolls.

It alleges that the centralised software system, operated from the EC headquarters in Delhi, has effectively overridden local electoral authorities.

Citing an example from Goa, the letter claims that electoral registration officers had cleared 97 voters after verifying their documents but were subsequently unable to restore their names to the final rolls because of backend software locks.

The letter also refers to West Bengal, claiming that more than 16 lakh appeals were filed seeking deletion of voters who had been included in the electoral rolls by judicial officers. It alleges that this process took place without the knowledge or authorisation of two of the three election commissioners and the West Bengal chief electoral officer.

The signatories further claim that the ongoing SIR has resulted in more than 13 crore voters being struck off across 30 States and Union Territories, which they describe as raising concerns over disenfranchisement and due process.

Seeking judicial intervention, the signatories have asked the Supreme Court to initiate suo motu proceedings into the EC’s administrative and operational conduct during the SIR and its deployment of ECINet.

They have also sought an immediate stay and cancellation of the SIR across all States and Union Territories pending an independent judicial review of its legality and procedural integrity.

The letter further seeks a court-monitored investigation into alleged unauthorised changes to voter registration software and forms, including appropriate action against Kumar and other officials whom the signatories allege disregarded statutory procedures and the constitutional framework governing the multi-member commission.

On ECINet, the signatories have sought a comprehensive security and legal audit by an independent expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court. They want the audit to examine whether control can be restored to local electoral registration officers and whether anyone other than statutory officers has had access to the platform.

The final relief sought is the immediate restoration of voters whose names were allegedly deleted because of technical glitches, software locks or procedural modifications.

'Free and fair elections are the bedrock of Indian democracy and form part of the basic structure of our Constitution,' the letter says, arguing that judicial intervention is necessary when safeguards governing electoral rolls are alleged to have been compromised.

The signatories include a wide range of professionals. Apart from the principal signatories, the list includes former UN under-secretary-general Kamal Malhotra. Other listed names include former Navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, former Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar, economist Jayati Ghosh, former JNU professor Geetha Nambissan, writer and journalist John Dayal and PUCL president Kavita Srivastava.