Supreme Court to Hear Petition Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar Next Week
New Delhi: The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) next week. The PIL seeks the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and challenges the manner in which the Election Commission, under his leadership, allegedly took decisions without the approval of the two Election Commissioners.
The matter was raised before a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who raised the issue, informed the bench that according to legal norms, decisions by a multi-member Election Commission should be unanimous or based on a majority.
He stated, "Given the way the Election Commission is functioning, there are serious doubts as to whether decisions are being taken unanimously." The bench responded, "We will list it for next week."
The petition follows a report, which claimed that Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi had officially objected—at least 14 times over the past 10 months—to decisions and orders regarding the 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) of the voter list. They contended that these decisions were made without their knowledge or recommendation.
The petition impleads the Union Law Ministry, the Election Commission, CEC Kumar, Sandhu, Joshi, and senior Election Commission official Manish Garg as parties.