Supreme Court to Hear Plea Seeking to Restrain CEC Gyanesh Kumar Over SIR Decisions

Supreme Court to Hear Plea Seeking to Restrain CEC Gyanesh Kumar Over SIR Decisions

A petition seeking to restrain Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar from functioning as the head of the Election Commission of India (ECI) has reached the Supreme Court. The court has agreed to hear the matter next week. 

The petition raises a key constitutional question: Can decisions vested in the three-member Election Commission be taken unilaterally by the CEC, or must they be taken collectively by the Commission?

Petitioner Rakesh Kumar Singh has alleged that several decisions connected with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were taken in the name of the ECI despite objections reportedly recorded by the other two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The petition refers to around 14 such objections between October 2025 and August 2026. 

The plea seeks a declaration that powers vested in the Election Commission cannot be exercised independently by the CEC. It also questions decisions and measures associated with the SIR process and seeks judicial scrutiny of the decision-making mechanism. 

The controversy centres on allegations of differences within the poll panel. However, the Election Commission has maintained that decisions relating to SIR were taken unanimously by the CEC and the two Election Commissioners. 

The Supreme Court's forthcoming hearing will therefore put the spotlight on the legal framework governing the functioning of the multi-member Election Commission and the manner in which decisions taken in its name are authorised.