A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking criminal prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged violations of statutory duties in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition also seeks a declaration that decisions, guidelines and software modifications allegedly undertaken by Gyanesh Kumar without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners are unconstitutional and void.

The petition has been filed days after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over decisions and orders concerning SIR, including changes to Form 6 and the management of electoral-roll data. The report said the objections related to decisions allegedly taken without their knowledge or against their recommendations.

Plea seeks prosecution of Gyanesh Kumar under RP Act

The petitioner has specifically sought directions to the competent authority to register complaints and initiate prosecution under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 against Gyanesh Kumar, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg, Director General (IT) Seema Khanna and other officials found responsible for an alleged breach of official duty.

The petition relies on Section 32, which provides punishment for specified breaches of official duty in connection with the preparation, revision or correction of electoral rolls.

The petitioner alleges that the conduct complained of includes the alleged unauthorised modification of Form 6, centralisation of electoral-roll databases, failure to restore eligible voters through the ECINet system and the filing of 16.10 lakh appeals in West Bengal challenging the inclusion of voters purportedly in the name of the ECI.

Seeks quashing of decisions allegedly taken without majority concurrence

The plea asks the Supreme Court to declare all decisions, guidelines, directives and software modifications initiated, approved or implemented under Gyanesh Kumar without full Commission concurrence, or contrary to the majority opinion of the Election Commissioners, as unconstitutional, ultra vires and void ab initio.

The petitioner relies on Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which provides that where the CEC and other Election Commissioners differ, the matter is to be decided according to the majority opinion.

According to the petition, Election Commissioners Joshi and Sandhu had objected to the alteration of Form 6 in May 2026, with Joshi recording that the statutory form could not be amended without a corresponding amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Sandhu subsequently concurred.

The petition alleges that despite this, the Form 6 on the ECINet portal was subsequently modified to require information concerning an applicant's or their relatives' presence in the previous SIR roll. It relies on Sandhu's subsequent recording that the alteration was "unauthorised and illegal".

SIT sought to investigate deletion of 13 crore names

The petitioner has sought constitution of an independent Judicial Inquiry Commission/Special Investigation Team headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, assisted by cybersecurity and IT experts.

The proposed probe is sought to conduct a forensic audit of the ECINet and ERONet databases and investigate the circumstances in which, according to the petition, 13 crore names were deleted across 30 States and Union Territories during the SIR exercise.

The petitioner also proposes that the SIT identify individual culpability for unauthorisedly filing 16.10 lakh appeals in West Bengal challenging the inclusion of voters.

Plea seeks restoration of original Form 6

Apart from challenging the alleged decisions of Gyanesh Kumar, the petitioner seeks quashing of the modifications made to Form 6 on the ECINet/ERONet portal and a direction for restoration of the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The plea also seeks quashing of the alleged 16.10 lakh appeals filed before West Bengal Appellate Tribunals in the name of the ECI against the inclusion of electors restored by judicial officers.

It further seeks preservation of the server logs, databases, communications and metadata relating to ECINet and ERONet from October 1, 2025 onwards, pending investigation.

The petition names the Union of India, Election Commission of India, CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Cabinet Secretary, Maneesh Garg and Seema Khanna as respondents.

The petition has been filed through AoR Chand Qureshi.

Case : Shailendra Mani Tripathi v Union of India | Diary No.59734/2026

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