The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Election Commission of India (EC) on petitions challenging the performance of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. It has ordered it to respond to these petitions. The next hearing has been adjourned to November 17.

A bench comprising CJI Justice Suryakant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohan heard these petitions. The petitioners were given two weeks to file their response to the affidavit filed by the Election Commission.

During the hearing, senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy argued on behalf of Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen. She raised objections to the way the Election Commission handled the changes in Form-6 used for registration of new voters. She alleged that the EC had stated in a press release that the Supreme Court had given its permission for the changes in Form-6. Responding to this, the Chief Justice said that it would look into it.

On the other hand, the Election Commission has stated in its affidavit that all the decisions related to the Special Comprehensive Revision (SCR) of the Electoral Roll were taken unanimously. It also rejected the allegation that Form-6 was changed through three SCR orders.

These petitions were filed on transparency in the functioning of the Election Commission, centralization of powers in the ERONET system used for maintaining the electoral roll, and registration and deletion of voters' names. The controversy has become more debated in the wake of previous reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi took some decisions without heeding the objections. However, the EC has clarified that the final decisions related to 'SCR' were taken unanimously.