The Election Commission on Monday told the Supreme Court that all decisions relating to the special intensive revision of electoral rolls were taken unanimously by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two election commissioners, the Hindustan Times reported.
The poll panel also said that a petition challenging its functioning was based on a single newspaper report and was not maintainable, Bar and Bench quoted the affidavit submitted by the Election Commission as saying.
On September 23, The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected 14 times in 10 months to decisions related to the special intensive revision, saying some had been taken without their knowledge.
On Monday, the Election Commission said that media reports about internal differences and Kumar’s alleged unilateral or authoritarian functioning could not be considered evidence in court, The Hindu reported.
The poll panel also described as “misleading” the reports that Form 6 was amended, The Indian Express reported. It said that only the additional declaration attached to the form used to register new voters had been revised to introduce the concept of “mapping”.
The Election Commission stated that the special intensive revision declaration was a separate document. However, it acknowledged that displaying it alongside Form 6 online could be construed as an amendment, Bar and Bench reported.
The new form asked applicants to state...