CEC Gyanesh Kumar Gets Judicial Backing: 42 Former Judges Support SIR, Reject Split Claims Amid the escalating political battle over the Election Commission and its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, 42 former judges have signed an open letter cautioning against allegations against constitutional institutions that, they said, are not backed by supporting evidence. The former judges questioned the repeated use of the “vote theft” allegation and stressed the importance of established democratic and legal mechanisms for raising grievances. They also defended the SIR exercise, saying it has been undertaken within the framework of the law. The intervention comes at a time when the Election Commission is facing growing criticism from Opposition parties and civil society groups over the electoral-roll revision exercise and its handling of voter data. The SIR process has become a major point of contention, with opponents questioning the manner in which electoral rolls are being revised and raising concerns over voters allegedly being left out. Several petitions have also been filed before courts seeking scrutiny of the Election Commission’s functioning and the legality of aspects of the SIR exercise. An open letter by more than 2,000 citizens last month, for instance, urged the Supreme Court to halt the SIR exercise until its legality and procedure could be independently examined. The signatories sought a court-monitored investigation into alleged irregularities involving electoral-roll management and the ECINet platform. The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that internal objections among commissioners demonstrate an institutional split and has maintained that decisions relating to SIR were taken unanimously. Post navigation People struggle amid flour crisis in Pakistan:20-kg bag reaches Rs 3,300, roti rises from Rs 20 to Rs 30
