SIR controversy: EC says agendas will be shared ahead of meetings, minutes to be issued

The Election Commission on Saturday said agendas for all its meetings will be circulated in advance and minutes will be issued after the meetings, amid an ongoing row over the functioning of the poll panel and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Amidst the ongoing row over differences between the two Election Commissioners and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the EC said in a statement that the letters sent by the two commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, to the Cabinet Secretary were not related to any policy matter of the Commission or its IT division, but to the working of an officer on deputation to the poll panel.

The Election Commission has said that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations and asserted that its orders have full legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.


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The clarification comes amid row over report that claimed differences within the EC over SIR of electoral rolls.

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Full list of decisions:

• People who receive notices during the ongoing SIR over unmapped records or logical discrepancies will not need to appear for hearings at ERO/AERO offices. BLOs will visit their homes, collect documents and upload them on ECINet for the ERO’s decision.
• Hearings will be held only in exceptional cases, as decided by the ERO, and preferably online. An adult family member can attend the hearing on behalf of the elector if authorised.
• Facilities for online hearings will be strengthened.
• District Election Officers (DEOs) will set up adequate help desks and special camps for people living in night shelters, labourers, poor people, homeless persons and others, based on local requirements.
• The declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Supreme Court. During non-SIR periods, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, will be used.
• Field officers will continue to have role-based access to the ECINet system according to their statutory powers.
• A committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT/IIIT will review ECINet to ensure compliance with relevant Acts and Rules and submit a report to the Commission.
• The EC said several upgrades to the portal have already been made based on inputs from state Chief Electoral Officers. Further flexibility required by field officers will also be made operational.
• Going forward, all new initiatives involving IT modules and portals will be discussed by the Committee of Officers (COO) before being approved by the Commission.
• In Delhi, the deadline for filing claims and objections has been extended to October 30, 2026, while the deadline for disposal of notices, claims and objections has been extended to November 30, 2026.
• In Maharashtra, the deadline for filing claims and objections has been extended to October 12, 2026, while the deadline for disposal of notices, claims and objections has been extended to November 10, 2026.
• For all Commission’s meeting, agenda will be circulated in advance and minutes will beissued.vii. APARs {Annual Performance Appraisal Reports} of all the officers will be completedwithin the stipulated time frame, i.e., 31st December every year.
• Approval of the Commission will be taken for foreign trips of the officers.
• All directions issued by the Commissioners to the officers of the Commission shall bemeticulously complied with.

The Election Commission (EC) said that in recent months, it has taken numerous decisions, including SIR across the country. The order for the SIR issued on June 24, 2025, for all states/UTs, starting with Bihar, followed by West Bengal and 30 other states/UTs, was issued with the unanimous approval of the Commission.

The same has been upheld by the Supreme Court of India vide its order dated May 27, 2026, it said.

The schedule for SIR for 12 states and UTs was issued on October 27, 2025, and those for 19 states/ UTs was issued on May 14, 2026, with the unanimous approval of the EC.

The final figure of the number of electors will be known only after final publication in the remaining 12 states of Phase-III.

"The declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. For the non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used," the statement said.

CEC Gyanesh Kumar Controvery: What did the investigation report say?

The investigation report said Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections on several matters linked to the management of electoral rolls. According to the report, the two commissioners objected at least 14 times in 10 months. Four of the objections were reportedly made on the same day.

The issues included the addition of new voters, deletion and restoration of names, appeals against electoral-roll decisions and the management and security of voter data. The report also said the commissioners raised concerns about the centralisation of access to electoral-roll databases.

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One of the most prominent issues concerned Form 6, the application used by citizens seeking registration as voters. The report said a new question was added to the form on the ECI's ECINet portal, asking new applicants whether their own name or that of a parent or grandparent appeared in an electoral roll from the previous SIR exercise. The report quoted Sandhu as describing the change as "unauthorised and illegal" and calling for its removal.

The investigation also reported concerns about the centralisation of electoral-roll software and the handling of voter data. It said Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to the Cabinet Secretary over changes in work allocation that they believed reduced a layer of oversight of the information-technology system supporting electoral rolls.

Why Gyanesh Kumar is at the centre of this controversy?

Gyanesh Kumar is at the centre of the controversy because he is the Chief Election Commissioner and heads the three-member poll panel. Opposition parties have used the reported objections by Sandhu and Joshi to question the way the Commission functioned during the SIR exercise. Some have demanded Kumar's removal and an independent probe.

At its core, there are two competing accounts of what happened inside the Election Commission. The investigation portrays the objections as evidence of sustained concerns raised by two members of the three-member panel over important electoral-roll decisions, including voter registration, deletions, Form 6 and the management of voter data.