SC Observations on CEC Decisions Give New Ammunition to Opposition

While the opposition parties failed to put necessary pressure on the CEC or create momentum against the alleged irregularities in the decisions taken by the Election Commission of India, the Supreme Court of India issuing notices to the EC and the Centre on the pleas alleging that the poll body took several decisions without the approval of the two other Election Commissioners has provided new ammunition to the opposition parties.

The Congress alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has betrayed the Constitution in letter and spirit at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. It is felt that the apex court would restore public confidence in the EC by thoroughly examining all the decisions taken by the CEC Gyanesh Kumar, including the immunity clause providing immunity even after he demits office.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on his X handle said that “The Supreme Court would do well to note that trust was based on decades of propriety and competent conduct starting with the late great Sukumar Sen, the first CEC who set the bar for how elections are to be conducted. None of that goodwill can be claimed by Gyanesh Kumar,” Ramesh said.

This “malicious” Form 6 modification, which was originally implied to have the Supreme Court’s approval, is one such example of his underhanded and simply indefensible conduct, he said.

“In reality, the CEC has not only lied but also violated the law and betrayed the Constitution in letter and spirit at the behest of the PM and the HM,” Ramesh alleged.

In another post, Ramesh said, “Obviously and very clearly the CEC lied. Form 6 was deliberately modified by the CEC himself to delete Gen Z voters of whom the PM is simply terrified.”

Reacting to this, the EC said that differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberations in any institution and that all its orders carried full legal sanction and followed established statutory procedures.

The BJP reacted, saying that so far the opposition parties have been alleging that there was no democracy in India. The very fact that there were some differences in opinion, which were later discussed and a decision was taken, proves that democracy was fully alive.

Amidst this scenario, agency sources on Monday said that the ECI dismissed claims that the panel had pulled down the September 26 press note, through which it modified certain terms related to Form 6 for SIR and tasked BLOs to collect notice-related additional documents from voters’ homes, from its website.

It said that, apart from extending the SIR deadlines in Delhi and Maharashtra, the ECI, in its note issued last month, had countered allegations of friction within the Commission and revised the SIR notice-related procedure.

“This Press Note is issued as per the decisions of the meeting of the Commission held on September 26, 2026 and has the approval of the full Commission,” the ECI had said.

ECI source said: “The September 26 press note is available on the ECI website and was never taken down.”