Delhi: A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an independent expert committee, headed by a former Chief Justice of India or a former Supreme Court judge, to examine alleged institutional deficiencies in the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, the petition has also sought a direction prohibiting the Election Commission from allowing candidates and political parties to invoke religious identities, display religious symbols or make communal and sectarian appeals, including through hate speech, while campaigning for elections.
The petition refers to a September 23 newspaper report which stated that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written objections on at least 14 occasions over a period of ten months against decisions allegedly taken unilaterally by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The objections reportedly concerned changes to statutory Form 6 without authorisation, centralisation of the electoral database, the filing of appeals in West Bengal without approval and orders relating to the allocation of work.
According to the plea, the ECI acknowledged the dissenting notes but characterised them as routine suggestions, without explaining who had authorised the changes to Form 6.
The petition has also raised concerns over the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. Referring to media reports on an affidavit filed by the ECI, it stated that around 38.20 lakh appeals had been filed by people excluded from the electoral rolls, while only approximately 1.02 lakh had been disposed of. The poll body reportedly sought to increase the number of appellate tribunals from 19 to 42.
Separately, the plea cited a media report stating that 2,70,313 electors in Maharashtra's draft electoral roll were recorded as being between 101 and 150 years old due to a default birth-year glitch.
Arguing that these developments warrant an institutional review, the petitioner has sought the constitution of a committee comprising specialists in constitutional law, election administration, statistics, technology, cybersecurity and data protection.
The proposed panel would examine systemic shortcomings in the ECI's functioning, with the plea seeking measures to strengthen institutional accountability and safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.
Emphasising the prospective and non-partisan nature of the plea, Tiwari has clarified that it neither seeks to attribute wrongdoing to any political party or public office-holder nor challenges the outcome of any election.