The Supreme Court will hear today petitions seeking suspension and prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over SIR decisions allegedly taken unilaterally.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana will hear the matters.
The petitions also seek a declaration that the CEC cannot take decisions for the Election Commission of India without the concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners.
The petitions have been filed in the context of reports that about 14 decisions were taken in the name of the ECI despite objections recorded by the other two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. According to the petitions, the two Commissioners recorded at least 14 objections between October 2025 and August 2026 concerning various SIR steps.
One of the petitions is filed by Rakesh Kumar Singh, which, among other things, seeks a declaration that the decisions of the Election Commission of India, being a multi-member body, cannot be taken unilaterally. The petitioner has further sought examination of the primary records of the Commission to determine whether the disputed actions were undertaken in accordance with the constitutional and statutory framework.
As an interim relief, the petitioner seeks the suspension of Gyanesh Kumar as the CEC.
The second petition is filed by Advocate Shaildendra Mani Tripathi seeking a quashing of the 14 decisions which were allegedly taken unilaterally. The petitioner has sought the constitution of an independent Judicial Inquiry Commission/Special Investigation Team headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, assisted by cybersecurity and IT experts.
Follow this page for live updates.
