Election Commission

Supreme Court questions ECI on asking deleted Delhi voters to file Form 6

The Supreme Court questioned why previously registered Delhi voters must file Form 6 and said it had not yet ruled on the legality of the ECI's logical discrepancy category

Supreme Court questions EC over use of Form 6 to restore names in Delhi SIR

The court questioned the use of Form 6 for previously registered voters and asked the poll panel to simplify re-inclusion procedures and consider removing cut-off dates

EC issues guidelines for officers' transfer, posting ahead of UP polls

The Election Commission has issued guidelines on transfer and posting of officials directly involved in election-related duties in view of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Polls, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said on Tuesday. The EC has directed that these guidelines be strictly followed to ensure the fairness and transparency of the electoral process. Rinwa said that in light of guidelines, officers directly involved in election-related duties and have completed three years in the same district within the last four years -- up to May 31, 2027 -- are to be transferred out of that district. The EC has asked the chief secretary and the director general of police to submit to it a consolidated report detailing the actions taken on its instructions by November 30. Rinwa, according to a statement, said that the transfer policy covers a slew of officers, including electoral registration officers, sub-divisional magistrates, joint magistrates, and tehsildars. It extend

SC gives 10 days to petitioners to reply to EC affidavit defending SIR

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted 10 days to petitioners to file a reply to the Election Commission's affidavit defending the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, maintaining that the exercise was authorised by law and the relevant orders were approved unanimously by all three members of the poll panel. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also issued notices to the poll panel and others on a fresh plea filed by Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen alleging that changes were made in Form 6 during Bihar SIR without the approval of the top court. Senior advocate and MP Maneka Guruswamy, appearing for Sen, said the poll panel wrongly claimed that the changes in Form 6 were approved by the top court. While issuing the notice, the CJI said that all the issues would be examined and asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, who represented the first petitioner, Rakesh Kumar Singh, to file a rejoinder in 10 days to the poll ...

No new software developed: EC cites 'trade secrets', withholds SIR details

ECI has cited trade secrets and intellectual property to deny disclosure of the software used in the voter roll revision, saying registration officers decide inclusion or exclusion based on records

SIR protest march heads towards ECI HQ amid tight security in central Delhi

A march against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in central Delhi on Friday, with participants heading towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters to protest against the alleged deletion of voters. The march, called by the Delhi Coordination Committee of People Against SIR -- a people's collective -- started near Gole Dak Khana, at the intersection of Kalibari Marg and Bhai Vir Singh Marg. Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and the Students' Federation of India (SFI) have extended their support to the protest, with activists from Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh participating as well. Security was tightened near Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, with Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel deployed in large numbers ahead of the march. The organisers have appealed to farmers, workers, youth, women and people from different sections of society to join the march carrying the national flag. They said the march would remain peaceful a

Cabinet Secretariat sent ECs' complaints to CEC Gyanesh Kumar: RTI reply

RTI records show the Cabinet Secretariat forwarded 2 Election Commissioners' complaints to the CEC and DoPT, saying acting on individual letters could be seen as interference in a constitutional body

Cabinet Secretariat took no action on EC officers' complaints: RTI reply

The Cabinet Secretariat refrained from taking any action on complaints sent by two Election Commissioners against the conduct of an officer in the Commission, noting that the communications were in their "individual capacity" and in the absence of "any official communication from the Commission as a whole, any action at this stage may be inappropriate", records made public in an RTI reply show. Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had sent two separate communications on July 29 to the top bureaucrat of the country TV Somanathan, on the working of Senior Deputy Election Commissioner (Sr. DEC) Maneesh Garg, IAS, who was posted in the Commission by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet since September 2, 2024, the letters provided in the RTI reply to activist Commodore Lokesh K Batra (retd) show. The Indian Express had reported in September that Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan after issuance of a work allocation order withi

Delhi HC says voters deleted during SIR can seek re-entry using Form 6

The Delhi High Court said voters whose names were deleted after they failed to submit enumeration forms during SIR could apply through Form 6, rejecting concerns over 'false declarations'

Delhi SIR: Reverification begins for 4.7 mn voters dropped from draft rolls

The poll officials have started reverification of more than 47 lakh voters whose names were removed from the draft electoral rolls, to ensure that no eligible voter is left out in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashok Kumar said on Friday. The development comes amid complaints that the names of many living voters and those who were living at their registered address were also removed from the draft rolls published on August 31. Kumar said that around 25 lakh cases out of 33.12 lakh, in which voters who were issued notices for non-mapping or logical discrepancy, have also been resolved. Speaking with reporters, Kumar said, "The booth-level officers have been directed to reverify the voters whose names were not in the draft rolls published after the enumeration phase. Our efforts are to ensure that no genuine voter's name is omitted in the final voters lists that will be published on December 4." The BLOs who are visiting

EC to conduct SSR of electoral rolls in 17 states and Union territories

The Election Commission will conduct Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 17 states and UTs, including poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

Delhi SIR: 2 million cases resolved after EC eases voter verification rules

Election Commission resolved over 60% of the 3.3 million cases flagged during Delhi's SIR of electoral rolls, following procedural relaxations and a faster verification drive

No adjudication on new Form 6 while hearing Bihar SIR matter, says SC

The Supreme Court on Monday said it had not adjudicated upon the new Form 6 while hearing the matter related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. Form 6 is an application through which an eligible person seeks inclusion in the electoral roll. The observation came from a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana that was hearing a petition concerning the SIR. The counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the Election Commission had said that Form 6 was approved by the apex court. "There is no adjudication on the new Form 6," Justice Bagchi observed, adding that when the matter relating to the SIR in Bihar was heard before it, the issue of new Form 6 was not there. While hearing a separate plea on October 5, the apex court said it had not approved any modifications to Form 6 being used by the poll panel during the SIR of electoral rolls in various states. The Election Commission had issued a pre

Modi govt waging war against citizens to protect CEC: Abhijeet Dipke

Cockroach Janta Party convenor Abhijeet Dipke on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of waging a war against citizens to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid growing demands for his resignation. The activist reached his native village, Santuk Pimpri, in Hingoli district of Maharashtra late last night, and visited the site where his grandmother's final rites were performed. In a sharp post on X, Dipke wrote, "Youth are being assaulted, journalists are being assaulted, even MPs are being assaulted by Delhi Police. What makes Gyanesh Kumar so indispensable to Modi that he is willing to wage war against everyone just to protect him?" Dipke, along with CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, were put under preventive arrest at the Delhi airport ahead of the Jantar Mantar protest on Saturday. They were released on Sunday on condition that they would not "breach peace" for a year. The CJP and opposition parties have been demanding the resignation of Chief ...

CJI Surya Kant declines to meet Rahul Gandhi over 'vote chori' allegations

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has not agreed to meet Leaders of Opposition after both of them wrote to him seeking time for a meeting on Monday to raise the 'vote chori' issue, sources said on Sunday night. Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge - had written to the CJI for a meeting with him between 4 and 5 PM on Monday to hand over a memorandum, demanding an end to 'vote chori', CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, halting of SIR and switching back to paper ballot. "Response of Hon'ble CJI to the letter received from Leaders of Opposition has been sent in their official mail," a source said. The sources said that the CJI has not agreed to meet the LoPs. They did not elaborate further. Opposition parties have announced a protest march to the Supreme Court on Monday over their demands. The Congress is calling it "Chalo Delhi - March for Democracy" and said they would converge at 1.30 PM at Connaught Place-Barakhamba Road ..

Ruling parties sweep bypolls in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Puducherry

The BJP won two West Bengal Assembly seats and led in Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll, while TVK and AINRC recorded wins in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

CISF deploys additional personnel for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's Z+ security

Reinforcement was ordered on October 7 amid protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, with extra personnel deployed at Kumar's residence and ECI office

Plea in Supreme Court seeks recall of split verdict on EC appointment law

The application seeks recall of the September 23 split verdict on a larger bench referral; a separate curative plea questions Justice Satish Chandra Sharma's participation

SC to examine plea to recall split verdict on CEC, EC appointment law

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a plea seeking recall of its recent split verdict on whether challenges to the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners should be referred to a larger Constitution bench. On September 23, a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma gave split opinions on whether a batch of pleas challenging the validity of a 2023 law that excludes the Chief Justice of India from the panel for selecting the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) should be referred to a larger Constitution bench. It had said due to a difference of opinion, the matter be placed before CJI Surya Kant on the administrative side for constitution of a bench of appropriate strength for an effective and authoritative adjudication. On Wednesday, a bench comprising the Chief Justice of India and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was told about the recall application by senior

Rahul Gandhi, other Congress leaders released from police detention

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also detained from the premises