NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it would examine all aspects of the Election Commission of India‘s (ECI) decision-making process amid allegations that key decisions, including those related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were taken without the unanimous consent.“We know everything. We will examine,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the functioning of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the poll panel, Live Law reported.The three-judge bench, comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, adjourned the hearing to November 17.The top court granted the petitioners 10 days to file rejoinders to the ECI’s counter-affidavit, which was submitted on Monday and asserted that the decisions in question were unanimous.The CJI’s remark came after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for leader of opposition on Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders, urged the court to direct the ECI to preserve file notings and internal communications related to its decisions.Singhvi argued that the records were crucial to determining whether the decisions concerning the SIR were taken unanimously or unilaterally.“This whole issue depends on the decision-making process, consultation, and whether the decision was unanimous or not unanimous. Let file notings, etc be preserved,” Singhvi added.The petitions challenge the functioning of Gyanesh Kumar alleged that several ECI decisions, including those related to the SIR, were issued without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners.The bench also issued notices to the ECI and other respondents on a fresh petition filed by Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen. The plea alleges that changes were made to Form 6 during the Bihar SIR without the Supreme Court’s approval.Senior advocate and MP Maneka Guruswamy, appearing for Sen, told the court that the poll panel had wrongly claimed that the changes to Form 6 were approved by the top court.The CJI said the court would examine all the issues and asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the first petitioner, Rakesh Kumar Singh, to file a rejoinder within 10 days to the ECI’s reply affidavit, submitted late Monday evening.ECI defends SIR, denies changes to Form 6Earlier on Monday, in its 248-page affidavit, the ECI strongly defended the SIR and rejected allegations that Form 6, the statutory form used for voter registration, had been amended.“The attempt to make aspersions against the Election Commission is unfortunate,” the affidavit, filed by Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu on behalf of the ECI, said, PTI reported.The poll panel also maintained that no changes had been made to the statutory Form 6. It said the affidavit itself had been approved for filing through a unanimous decision of all three Election Commissioners.
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The petitions followed a report published by The Indian Express on September 25, which said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over the preceding 10 months to decisions and orders concerning the SIR.According to the report, the two commissioners had objected that the decisions were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.The allegations triggered protests by opposition parties and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which demanded the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.The Supreme Court will take up the matter again on November 17, after the petitioners file their rejoinders to the ECI’s affidavit.
