Supreme Court Bars Election Commission from Altering Voter Forms 6-8
On 28 October, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the Election Commission must not alter the prescribed voter registration forms 6, 7 and 8 and urged a simpler solution for re-enrollment of existing voters in Delhi. The decision came after the court had postponed a hearing on pleas against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar while Karnataka published its final electoral roll following a Special Intensive Revision that removed over 9. 9 million names. Earlier, the court adjourned a hearing on petitions alleging the Commission made decisions without the consent of all commissioners, gave petitioners ten days to file a rejoinder and set a further hearing for 17 November. The bench had also announced it would consider petitions challenging the Chief Election Commissioner’s actions.
The Election Commission responded with a 250-page affidavit asserting that the Chief Election Commissioner can be removed only on the same grounds and procedure as a Supreme Court judge and describing its unanimous decision-making process. It further defended that its Special Intensive Revision orders were adopted unanimously and argued that petitions based on newspaper reports should be dismissed. The commission also told the court that more than 1. 6 million appeals against voter inclusions in West Bengal were filed by state officials, citing Supreme Court orders as authority.
