The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday (October 5) a batch of petitions seeking the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, as protests calling for his resignation over alleged electoral irregularities intensify.
The petitions challenge several decisions of the Election Commission under Kumar, alleging that decisions, guidelines and changes to its software were introduced without the consent of the other two Election Commissioners.
Pleas challenge CEC’s powers
The pleas have also urged the court to consider whether Kumar acted alone in exercising powers vested in the Election Commission collectively, allegedly bypassing the requirement for joint decision-making.
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One of the petitions seeks initiation of criminal proceedings against the CEC and other officials, while another wants the court to strike down decisions allegedly taken without the approval of all members of the commission.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymala Bagchi and V Mohana, is scheduled to take up the petitions filed by Rakesh Kumar Singh and advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi.
Singh, a Patna resident, has asked the court to examine whether Kumar has been exercising, on his own, powers that are legally vested in the full Election Commission and, if so, declare such actions unauthorised and order appropriate legal action.
The petition has sought Kumar’s suspension until final adjudication of the matter, saying this is necessary to safeguard the “multi-member character of the Election Commission”.
EC defends decisions amid dissent
The petition follows an Indian Express report that said election commissioners Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections on at least 14 occasions over the past 10 months to decisions and orders relating to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which they allegedly had neither been consulted on nor recommended.
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The Election Commission, responding to the report, said differences of opinion and observations are a normal feature of institutional deliberations, maintaining that all its orders have full legal sanction and are issued in accordance with established statutory procedures.
The Union Law Ministry, the Election Commission, Kumar, Sandhu, Joshi and senior poll panel official Maneesh Garg have been named as parties in the petition.
Tripathi’s petition, filed through advocate Chand Qureshi, contends that the CEC’s conduct is contrary to the statutory requirement of collective decision-making. It has also sought criminal proceedings against the CEC and other officials, alleging a breach of their official duties.