The Supreme Court of India has agreed to take up a petition next week that directly questions the internal functioning of the Election Commission of India. The matter, mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi, and V Mohana, seeks to verify whether decisions made by the multi-member body are truly unanimous or passed by majority, as the statutory scheme requires.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, who brought the matter to the bench's attention, argued that the current mode of operation creates "serious doubt" over the consensus within the commission. He submitted that if decisions are not unanimous or properly majority-voted, their legal validity is compromised. This legal challenge lands at a sensitive time for India's electoral machinery.
The plea stems from a report in the Indian Express alleging that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi Sandhu raised objections on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months. These objections concerned decisions and orders regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which the two commissioners claimed were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
In response to these allegations, the Election Commission issued a statement clarifying that the letters sent by Sandhu and Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary pertained to an officer on deputation. The poll body maintained that these communications did not relate to policy or IT division matters, attempting to downplay the scale of the internal dissent.
The court will now examine the veracity of these claims, a decision that could set a precedent for transparency within India's electoral oversight body. A hearing is scheduled for next week, where the bench may seek detailed records of the commission's internal deliberations to determine if the statutory requirement for unanimous or majority decisions was adhered to.