Ex-Home Secretary G K Pillai, Najeeb Jung, Yogendra Yadav Target CEC Over SIR, EC Functioning

New Delhi, October 5: A group of former civil servants and rights activists on Monday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and issued a “people’s impeachment” notice accusing him of six alleged lapses in the functioning of the Election Commission and the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The delegation included former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former officials and diplomats, and activist Yogendra Yadav. The group attempted to reach the Election Commission headquarters at Nirvachan Sadan to submit the four-page notice but was stopped after roads leading to the office were barricaded, according to members of the delegation.

The notice accuses Kumar of undermining the Election Commission’s collective functioning, authorising changes to statutory Form 6, centralising electoral-roll administration through ECINET, causing alleged mass disenfranchisement through the SIR exercise, compromising political impartiality and repeatedly failing to discharge statutory duties.

The group also alleged that important SIR-related decisions were taken without adequate consultation or recorded proceedings within the Commission. It cited reports that the other two Election Commissioners had raised objections to certain decisions allegedly taken without their knowledge. These remain allegations made by the group.

Pillai Questions Burden of Proving Citizenship

Addressing the issue of voter eligibility and citizenship, Pillai referred to his experience as an administrative officer and former Home Secretary. He questioned what he described as a shift in the burden of establishing citizenship onto ordinary citizens.

“You are asking 99.9 per cent Indians to prove for potential 0.1 per cent illegals,” Pillai said, arguing that the process had effectively been reversed and was causing unnecessary hardship to citizens.

Najeeb Jung said the former civil servants were not acting against the government but were raising concerns over what they described as the Election Commission’s functioning and the scale of alleged voter disenfranchisement during the SIR exercise.

“Even one citizen cannot be deprived of the right to vote,” Jung said, calling for those responsible for the exercise to step down.

Yogendra Yadav also backed the initiative, while former Intelligence Bureau special director Yashovardhan Azad acknowledged that the “people’s impeachment” had no formal legal or constitutional status but said it reflected concerns being raised by citizens and civil society beyond political parties.

The development comes amid an escalating dispute over the Election Commission’s functioning and the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has rejected several allegations concerning Form 6 and maintained that the declaration attached to the form had been upheld by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is separately examining petitions concerning the functioning of the Election Commission and allegations regarding unilateral decisions by the CEC. The court has sought responses from the Centre and the poll panel, making the issue a continuing subject of judicial scrutiny.