India's poll body tells Supreme Court its chief can be removed only like a judge
A joint affidavit from India's Election Commission rejects claims that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar acted alone.
India's Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) can be removed from office only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge, The Hindu reported. The commission also argued that any attempt to restrain the CEC's functioning would be contrary to law.
The joint affidavit, nearly 250 pages long, was filed late on Monday by the commission, CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. It responds to petitions challenging the CEC's functioning. The petitioners include the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, other INDIA bloc leaders, Rakesh Kumar Singh and advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi. The Economic Times reported that the commission denied the CEC had acted alone in taking decisions on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to The Hindu, the affidavit said a media report on internal frictions and the CEC's alleged unilateral or authoritarian functioning was hardly evidence, and that petitions based on media reports should not be maintainable. The commission said it had "neither released nor authorised the release of any internal note or file to any news agency".
The affidavit described decisions passing first to one election commissioner, then the other, and finally to the CEC, with differences of opinion settled by majority under Section 18 of the 2023 law governing the commissioners' appointment and service. It conceded that in urgent cases, when members cannot be present in person, their approval is obtained through "electronic means" and recorded in the file later.
The Hindu reported that the document indirectly confirmed Mr Sandhu and Mr Joshi had written separate letters to the Cabinet Secretary on July 29 about Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg. This followed a July 28 office order affecting IT oversight of electoral rolls, which was passed without the two commissioners' knowledge or consensus. The affidavit said that order was "never implemented".
The commission denied that Form 6, the statutory form for inclusion on the electoral roll, had been amended in SIR orders dated June 24, 2025, October 27, 2025 and May 14, 2026. It said an additional declaration form asking voters for mapping details was a separate document and a "measure taken for the assistance of voters". NDTV reported the commission told the court that only the central government can change the format of Form 6.
On West Bengal, the commission said 16.10 lakh (about 1.6 million) appeals in tribunals against the inclusion of voters were filed by officers of the state's Chief Electoral Officer acting as authorities under the Representation of the People Act. It cited an October 22 communication from that office and said the matters were not brought to the commission.
In Goa, the commission said house visits were held for 97 voters initially left off the rolls. Of those, 88 have filled in Form 6 and had their applications accepted, six were out of the country and three held Portuguese passports.
Sources: The Hindu, CEC can be removed only like a Supreme Court judge, ECI tells top court; NDTV, No Change To Form 6, Declaration Is Separate: Poll Body To Top Court; The Economic Times, ECI denies CEC acted alone in taking SIR decisions.
