NEW DELHI, Sept 23: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday demanded the immediate suspension of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and sought an FIR to investigate alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Sibal’s remarks came after a media report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders concerning the electoral roll revision exercise.
Speaking at a press conference, Sibal also demanded that work on finalising the electoral rolls be halted and called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the reported objections.
He alleged that decisions of the Election Commission were being taken without following the prescribed procedure and claimed that actions concerning electoral rolls had been centralised.
Sibal also questioned changes relating to Form 6, used by new voters to apply for inclusion in electoral rolls, and raised concerns over the reported centralisation of access to electoral registration data.
The former Union minister alleged that the reported actions could affect the integrity of the electoral process and claimed that the exercise was aimed at benefiting the BJP. He also urged the Supreme Court to consider appropriate measures in view of the issues he raised.
“If this does not happen, I request all political parties to peacefully start agitating throughout the country,” Sibal said.
The Election Commission, however, has rejected reports of a division within the poll panel, maintaining that all its decisions, including those related to the SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of the Chief Election Commissioner and both Election Commissioners.
The clarification came after reports that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections to various decisions over the past 10 months. The reported issues included changes to Form 6, centralisation of electoral database controls, voter deletion appeals and the handling of electoral rolls.
Sibal said that if decisions were not taken in accordance with the applicable procedure, their validity should be examined.
He also demanded that any official found responsible for wrongdoing be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with law.
The SIR is aimed at revising and updating electoral rolls, with the Election Commission overseeing the exercise across states.
