Over 2000 citizens write to CJI to stay SIR, initiate suo motu proceedings on EC conduct

Over 2,000 citizens across the country have signed an open letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to initiate suo motu proceedings into the operational and administrative conduct of the Election Commission of India regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and the deployment of ECINet.

A letter to the CJI seeks the immediate stay and rescission of the SIR exercise across all States and Union Territories pending a thorough, independent judicial review of its legality and procedural integrity in light of the new facts that have emerged.

They have also sought an independent, court-monitored investigation into allegations of arbitrary, unauthorised changes made to voter registration software/forms.

The open letter has sought a direction from the court for “appropriate penal/procedural action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and officials for overriding statutory procedures and disregarding the constitutional mandate of the multi-member Commission”.

The signatories have also sought a comprehensive security and legal audit of the ECINet software platform by an independent expert committee appointed by the apex court to restore decentralised control to local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) as mandated by law and verify whether any persons other than statutory officers had access to the platform.

The letter urged the court’s intervention to order an immediate reinstatement of voters whose names were deleted due to technical glitches, software locks, or unauthorised procedural modifications.

“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of Indian democracy and form part of the basic structure of our Constitution. When the institutional safeguards designed to protect the electoral roll are compromised from within, judicial intervention becomes vital to preserve public faith in the democratic process,” the letter said.

The signatories include prominent academics, former public officials, lawyers, journalists, writers, artists and human rights activists from across India.

They include independent academic Aditya Nigam, filmmaker Aditya Seth, Admiral (retired) Vishnu Bhagwat, retired IAS officer Aditi Mehta, IAS Retd, activists Amrita Johri and Anjali Bhardwaj, former Delhi University professor Anita Rampal, retired JNU professor Nivedita Menon, advocate Prashant Bhushan, actor Praskash Raj. professors Aditya Mukherjee and Mridula Mukherjee, Gauhar Raza, Shabnam Hashmi, among others.