The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will examine allegations that the Election Commission of India made unilateral decisions regarding electoral roll revisions. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant noted, "We know everything. We will examine." The court set November 17 for the next hearing to review the poll body's internal processes.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi said they acted "unanimously" in issuing orders to schedule the SIR.
The Supreme Court said Tuesday it would examine all aspects of the controversy surrounding the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI), including allegations that its decisions to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were not unanimous.
"We know everything. We will examine," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said while presiding over a three-judge bench hearing petitions challenging the poll body's functioning.
The CJI fixed the matter for hearing on November 17 to enable the petitioners to file their counter to ECI's affidavit, which asserted that the decisions were "unanimous".
The CJI made the remark as Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and INDIA Bloc leaders, urged the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, to direct preservation of the file notings and ECI's internal communications, which he contended are crucial to decide if the decisions were taken unanimously.
"This whole issue depends on the decision-making process, consultation, and whether the decision was unanimous or not unanimous," Singhvi submitted.
Appearing for TMC MP Dola Sen, Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy said the ECI affidavit had in fact proved the petitioners' right. She alleged that the poll body had tampered with Form 6, used for enrolling new voters, and had also released a press release claiming the SC had approved it.
Opposing this, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, who represented ECI, called her submission "rhetoric".
ECI affidavit
In the joint affidavit filed Monday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi said they acted "unanimously" in issuing orders to schedule SIR in states and Union Territories.
The joint affidavit was filed before the Supreme Court, which heard petitions regarding ECI's functioning after The Indian Express's September 23 report.
They stated that the three SIR orders, beginning with the order dated June 24, 2025, along with the subsequent orders issued on October 27, 2025 and May 14, 2026, to schedule SIR in other states and Union Territories, were issued pursuant to unanimous decisions of the Election Commission of India, in due compliance with Article 324 of the Constitution of India, read with Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
The affidavit, filed in response to a petition by social activist Rakesh Kumar Singh, underlined that it "has been approved for filing...by a unanimous decision of the three members of the Election Commission, ie two Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner."
ECI also termed "misleading" the contention that Form 6, as provided in the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, was amended by the SIR Orders dated June 24, 2025, October 27, 2025, and May 14, 2026. It also said that only the Additional Declaration annexed to Form 6 was amended "to introduce the concept of mapping".