Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal seeks Gyanesh Kumar's removal over poll roll decisions

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of taking "unilateral decisions" on matters linked to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and demanded that he be removed from office. He also urged the Supreme Court to examine the matter and consider nullifying elections held recently.

The former Union minister said the issue had serious implications for elections conducted over the past 10 months. Referring to an Election Commission statement issued on Saturday, Sibal claimed it amounted to an acknowledgement that decisions had not been taken unanimously within the poll body during this period.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, Sibal alleged that actions were decided "unilaterally" by Gyanesh Kumar instead of by the full three-member Commission. He claimed Commission meetings were held without distributed agendas or recorded minutes, which, he said, prevented the other commissioners from reviewing or commenting on decisions.

Khanna's role has come under scrutiny amid the row over a report in The Indian Express, which said issues linked to the Special Intensive Revision were repeatedly raised within the Election Commission by the other two commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The national rollout of the SIR has been under the supervision of all three commissioners. But, according to the report, Sandhu and Joshi formally objected, on record, at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions taken and orders issued without their knowledge.

Sibal said these alleged unilateral practices stretched across 10 months and covered state elections from June 2025 in Bihar to April 2026 in West Bengal. He claimed decisions on voter additions and deletions were centralised in Delhi through ECI NET under Seema Khanna, bypassing statutory Electoral Registration Officers. He also said changes to Form 6, which required parent or grandparent details, were made without the required central government notification.

He said Kumar had been given immunity from criminal prosecution under a new law brought in by the Modi government, but argued that Seema Khanna, who managed ECI NET operations and did not have statutory immunity, must be arrested and an FIR lodged against her. Sibal further claimed that if election processes from Bihar to West Bengal had violated statutory rules, then all elections held during these 10 months were "illegal".

Calling for judicial intervention, Sibal said the Supreme Court should examine Election Commission records, dissent notes and alleged unilateral orders. He said the court must take suo motu cognisance of the matter and consider whether the recent elections should be annulled. As the row over the SIR intensified, the Opposition demanded Kumar's immediate arrest, his removal from office, and an independent review of all decisions and electoral roll changes made under him.