Former judges’ open letter calls SIR protests an attack on constitutional bodies

A group of 42 individuals, most of them former Supreme Court and High Court judges, have written an open letter against the ongoing protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over his handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. 

The protests, led by Congress and other opposition parties, various student outfits, as well as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), have continued in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and other parts of the country. Their main demands include the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and an inquiry against him, a complete rollback of the SIR, and a repeal of the CEC and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023. 

Protesters are seeking accountability for the alleged large-scale disenfranchisement of voters in the name of the SIR, the alleged centralisation of electoral databases, and the reportedly autocratic decision-making process in the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The open letter by the group of former judges supporting the ECI claimed that India's constitutional bodies were under “sustained attack” and that the ECI stood “at the centre of this assault.” They called the critique of ECI and other statutory agencies, including the judiciary, ‘a calculated campaign driven by vested political interests, with little regard for the potentially devastating consequences of destabilising the world’s largest democracy.”

The letter attributed the protests to “anarchic and fringe elements”, saying some of them are “homegrown” and “some take their cues from beyond our borders.”

A few days ago, Organiser, the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had insinuated that the anti-SIR protests were a “CIA conspiracy to destabilise India.”

The open letter by the former judges claimed that the ECI officials were being warned of reprisal once power changed hands, without evidence of wrongdoing. 

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had recently called for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, soon after The Indian Express reported that two Election Commissioners had dissented to decisions related to the SIR several times over the past year. He said Gyanesh Kumar had seriously damaged the voting system in India and that the people responsible for this would be punished. 

“A party that governed this nation for over five decades now claims that the very system which elected it is rigged,” the letter said.

It backed the SIR, claiming it was constitutionally and legally sound, despite criticism from legal experts and activists who have pointed out that the ongoing SIR has been different from previous SIR exercises. 

Signatories of the letter include former Supreme Court judges Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Pankaj Mittal, and several retired judges of various High Courts. 

Justice Hemant Gupta is known for upholding the Karnataka High Court’s hijab ban in educational institutions in 2022, on the penultimate day of his term at the apex court. Post retirement, he was one among the 30 judges who attended the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s 2024 Judges’ Meet. 

Another signatory, Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, who retired as the Chief Justice of Karnataka, is known for his controversial comment on Tipu Sultan. In 2016, he had said, “Tipu was not a freedom fighter, but a monarch who fought the opponents to safeguard his interests.”

Justice Permod Kohli, former Sikkim High Court Chief Justice, Justice SN Srivastav, former Allahabad High Court judge, are also two signatories who have previously sparked controversy. In a December 2019 panel discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Act, Justice Kohli had said those protesting the law were being misinformed and misled. Justice Srivastav had said that the law will benefit those forced to come to India due to atrocities.