Supreme Court to hear pleas on Monday against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over 'unauthorised' SIR decisions

The Supreme Court on Monday will hear two writ petitions seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) row.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana will hear writ petitions filed against Kumar's controversial decisions on the SIR, amid growing calls for his resignation by the Opposition and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

According to an earlier Indian Express report, these decisions were reportedly taken despite as many as 14 alleged objections from the other two Election Commissioners (ECs) Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi between October 2025 and August 2026.

One of the petitions, filed by Patna resident Rakesh Kumar Singh, has urged the apex court to determine if the CEC had been unilaterally exercising the Election Commission of India (ECI) powers.

It urged the SC to declare those actions "unauthorised" and to suspend Kumar if this were found true, in order to preserve the "multi-member character of the Election Commission", a PTI report said.

Another petition, filed by Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, has sought that the 14 SIR decisions allegedly taken unilaterally by the CEC be quashed.

Advocate Tripathi has also called for an independent judicial inquiry into the matter, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and assisted by cybersecurity and IT experts, a LiveLaw report noted.

The focus of the inquiry, as per the petition cited in the report, would be to probe the ECINet and ERONet databases to understand the circumstances behind the deletion of 13 crore names across 30 states and Union Territories (UTs) during the SIR exercise.

The plea also urged the competent authority to initiate legal action against CEC Kumar, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg, Director General (IT) Seema Khanna, and other officials under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which punishes breaches of official duty in electoral roll handling.

Growing public ire

The allegations against the CEC have turned an institutional problem into constitutional questions, raising questions of transparency as Delhi heats up for what the All India Students' Association has termed 'Jantar Mantar 2.0'.

More than 5,000 personnel have been deployed by the Delhi Police just months after the anti-NEET paper leak protests, but this time to control two protest marches from India Gate to Jantar Mantar, calling for Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

The agitation has also become a women's safety issue, with some journalists and female protesters accusing Delhi Police personnel of being touched inappropriately.

The Delhi Police has said that it had not permitted protests to take place at either of the two locations, though the two sites are likely to become hotspots as the agitations against Kumar reach their third day.

The Opposition INDIA bloc has also lashed out at the Centre for its role in manipulating the ECI, due to which it aims to unite for an October 6 protest march urging CEC Kumar's resignation.