SabrangIndia https://sabrangindia.in/ News Related to Human Rights Tue, 27 Oct 2026 13:05:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://sabrangindia.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Favicon_0.png SabrangIndia https://sabrangindia.in/ 32 32 ECI affidavit says SIR decisions were unanimous, but questions over two commissioners’ objections remain https://sabrangindia.in/eci-affidavit-says-sir-decisions-were-unanimous-but-questions-over-two-commissioners-objections-remain/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 13:05:50 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49819 The Election Commission says SIR decisions were unanimous, and Form 6 was not amended, but its affidavit does not explain why two Election Commissioners recorded objections after key actions had been taken, or fully address concerns over ECINet, voter deletions in Goa and appeals in West Bengal

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]]> The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Supreme Court that all major decisions concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were taken unanimously. It has denied allegations that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar acted without the agreement of the other two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The statement forms part of the ECI’s counter-affidavit in a petition filed by Rakesh Kumar Singh, which challenges the functioning of the CEC and the legality of certain Commission decisions. The affidavit, filed by Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu, says the SIR orders dated June 24, 2025, October 27, 2025, and May 14, 2026, were unanimous. It was approved by all three members.

The Commission has questioned the petition’s reliance on a newspaper report, arguing that the petitioner did not independently verify the allegations. It has also said that it neither released nor authorised the release of internal notes or files to the media.

However, the concerns raised in The Indian Express investigation, published on October 27, go beyond whether the Commission formally approved its decisions. The report documented 14 notes recorded by Sandhu and Joshi over 10 months. Many concerned actions that had already been taken, systems that had been developed or proceedings that had been initiated before the two Commissioners recorded that they had not been informed.

The affidavit explains how the ECI says decisions should be taken. It does not fully explain why the two Commissioners repeatedly recorded that they learnt about important developments after they had occurred.

ECI’s explanation does not resolve concerns over consultation

The Commission has argued that notes, queries, suggestions and observations recorded by individual Commissioners during file processing are not, by themselves, decisions of the ECI.

It says files ordinarily pass from one Election Commissioner to the other before reaching the CEC. The affidavit relies on Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which provides for decisions to be taken unanimously as far as practicable and by majority where unanimity is not possible.

But the timing of the notes remains central to the dispute. As reported by The Indian Express, the two Commissioners were often recording their concerns after a decision had been implemented or an official action had already taken place.

The question, therefore, is not simply whether the final orders carried the Commission’s approval. It is whether all three members were adequately informed and involved before the decisions were put into effect. The affidavit does not provide a detailed explanation for the instances in which Sandhu and Joshi said they had been left out of the process.

Form 6 was not amended, says ECI, but who introduced the online declaration?

The dispute over Form 6 illustrates the gap between the Commission’s legal explanation and the questions about how the changes were implemented.

Form 6 is used by citizens to apply for inclusion in electoral rolls. In May, Joshi recorded that the form could not be changed without an amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Sandhu agreed. Despite these objections, the online version of Form 6 was changed in July to include a declaration requiring applicants to provide details linking themselves, their parents or grandparents to earlier intensive electoral rolls.

According to The Indian Express, Sandhu learnt about the change through a newspaper report. In August, he described the declaration inserted into the online form as “unauthorised/ illegal”.

The ECI has now said that the declaration was a separate document introduced for the SIR and did not amount to an amendment of the statutory form. It has also maintained that only the Central Government can amend the form prescribed under the 1960 Rules.

At the same time, the affidavit acknowledges that the way the declaration appeared on the online application platform could give the impression that Form 6 had been amended. It further says that certain steps taken by officials needed to be corrected.

On October 21, the Commission’s Electoral Rolls Division decided to separate the online application into two components: Form 6 and the SIR declaration. This brings the online process in line with the procedure followed for physical applications.

The correction addresses how the two documents are presented. But the affidavit does not identify who authorised the declaration’s insertion into Form 6 in July or explain why it was implemented after two Commissioners had recorded objections. It says the declaration was entered on the online page of Form 6 but does not name the official responsible.

ECINet: Formal authority rests with EROs, but earlier software concerns remain

The ECI has defended ECINet, the platform used for electoral roll-related work, by stressing that the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) remains the statutory authority. According to the affidavit, no name can be added to, deleted from or modified in the electoral roll without an order from the competent ERO.

The Commission has also said that an expert committee comprising members from IIT Madras and IISc Bengaluru has been constituted to examine the platform’s compliance with applicable requirements. It has referred to arrangements for scrutinising new information technology modules before they are approved.

However, the measures now described in the affidavit resemble a proposal Joshi made on May 29. He had raised concerns about the gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database and sought an outside expert’s involvement to verify that only the relevant statutory authorities could make changes to it. Sandhu endorsed the proposal in July.

On August 14, Sandhu recorded that he did not know what had happened to the two notes. The affidavit identifies September 26 and 30 as the dates of the Commission’s decisions on the committee but does not mention the earlier proposal.

Other concerns recorded by the Commissioners also remain unanswered. In April, Sandhu noted that the IT division had developed several modules and portals without bringing them before the Commission. He said he had learnt about them through the media. In August, he recorded complaints from field officers who said the system did not allow them to perform functions required by law.

The affidavit’s assurance that the ERO remains legally responsible does not establish whether the software enabled officers to carry out their statutory duties when these concerns were raised.

Goa deletions: Subsequent applications do not explain why officers could not reverse them

The affidavit refers to 97 voters who were left off Goa’s final electoral roll and says that 88 have since applied for inclusion through Form 6.

But this does not explain the earlier failure of the software to allow Electoral Registration Officers in Goa to implement decisions reversing the deletions.

The state’s election office made eight requests over seven days in February for the system to permit the deletions to be reversed. A Deputy Election Commissioner had also recorded that the “IT system cannot block necessary action.”

The affidavit does not explain why the software prevented the required action or how the requests were handled at the time. The fact that 88 voters subsequently applied again does not answer why the earlier decisions could not be implemented through the system.

West Bengal appeals: Who authorised the filings, and how were so many cases handled?

The affidavit states that appeals against orders restoring voters to the electoral roll in West Bengal were filed by officers in the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). It says the matters were not brought to the Commission and argues that the officers had authority to file the appeals under the Supreme Court’s orders.

How the appeals were handled and who knew about them

On August 7, after a newspaper report about the appeals, Joshi’s office sought the factual position from the officer in charge of the state. Five days later, Sandhu put five questions to the same officer. His note recorded that Joshi had told him he did not have the details.

The affidavit identifies the officers who filed the appeals and says they had the authority to do so under the Supreme Court’s orders. But it does not reconcile this explanation with Sandhu’s note recording that the West Bengal CEO had also said she did not have information about the details of the matter.

The affidavit now cites a letter from the CEO’s office dated October 22 to establish that officers from that office filed the appeals. It does not explain the apparent gap between the earlier account and this later clarification.

There are further unanswered questions. The affidavit does not explain how lakhs of appeals came to be filed on nearly identical grounds, whether the cases were examined individually or how proceedings on this scale moved forward without the Commission being informed. The circumstances also remain unclear given the CEO’s earlier statement, recorded by Sandhu, that she lacked the details.

July administrative order: ECI says it was not implemented

Another issue concerns an order issued in July by a senior officer who had been given temporary charge of the Commission’s administration. The order redistributed work among ECI officers.

Joshi wrote to the Cabinet Secretary that the Administration Division did not provide him with the file when he sought it. The ECI says the order was never implemented after Sandhu and Joshi issued a joint direction. It adds that the two Commissioners’ letters related to this order.

However, the affidavit does not explain why the order was issued without the Commission’s involvement, why the file was not provided to a member of the Commission or what happened to the officer who issued it. The Commission’s explanation addresses the order’s eventual non-implementation but leaves the circumstances surrounding its issuance and the withholding of the file unresolved.

ECI disputes the release of internal files

The Commission has stated that it did not release or authorise the release of any internal note or file to a news agency. This contests how the documents reached the media, rather than answering the concerns recorded in them.

The affidavit also opposes the plea seeking to restrain Gyanesh Kumar from functioning as CEC. Relying on Article 324(5) of the Constitution, the ECI says the CEC can be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge. It has also referred to the Supreme Court’s earlier consideration of challenges to the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines.

The Commission described its affidavit as a short response filed because of the intervening Dussehra holidays and reserved the right to submit a detailed, paragraph-wise counter.

Supreme Court to examine the Commission’s explanation

The ECI’s affidavit sets out its position on three central issues: the unanimity of SIR decisions, the legal status of the declaration accompanying Form 6, and the ERO’s authority over electoral roll changes. It also identifies corrective measures, including separating Form 6 from the SIR declaration online and establishing an expert committee to examine ECINet.

But several specific questions raised by Sandhu and Joshi remain unanswered. These concern the implementation of the online declaration, the software’s failure to permit action in Goa, the handling of appeals in West Bengal, the administrative order issued in July and the repeated instances in which the Commissioners said they were not informed of developments.

The affidavit’s claim that the final decisions were unanimous does not, by itself, settle whether the decision-making process worked as it should have. Nor do the corrective measures fully explain how the earlier problems arose.

On October 5, the Supreme Court declined to suspend Gyanesh Kumar through an ex-parte interim order while issuing notice on the petition. The bench said it would examine the decisions and take appropriate action if they were found incompatible with the law.

The Court’s examination will now determine whether the Commission’s explanations adequately address the concerns about consultation, access to information and the implementation of decisions during the SIR exercise.

The controversial ECI affidavit may be read here.

Download PDF

Related:

UP voter lists: Software manipulates Voter’s names, Pilibhit investigation finds 10,470 irregular entries

Who controls access to voter records? ECINet audit raises fresh questions

Vote for Democracy seeks answers from ECI and TCS on ECI’s electoral database access and security

Barricades and detentions fail to stop Delhi protesters marching against CEC

 

 

 

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]]> UP CEO orders voter roll audit after SIR glitches exposed: Can the 2027 election be fair without public scrutiny? https://sabrangindia.in/up-ceo-orders-voter-roll-audit-after-sir-glitches-exposed-can-the-2027-election-be-fair-without-public-scrutiny/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 12:45:28 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49822 Uttar Pradesh has ordered a complete scrutiny of voter additions, deletions and corrections after SIR, following confirmed irregularities in Pilibhit, close election margins, opposition complaints and disputed entries raise questions about whether an internal review can restore public confidence before 2027 polls; while investigative organisations like Reporters Collective and even opposition political parties had been flagging issues for over eight weeks, it took sustained public exposure for the poll body to act

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]]> Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa has finally ordered a state-wide audit of voter registration, deletion and correction entries processed by computer assistants since April 10, when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ended. The decision follows irregularities reported in Pilibhit and Azamgarh and brings changes made after the revision under scrutiny ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.

That the instructions covering Forms 6, 7 and 8 across the state’s 403 Assembly constituencies. Form 6 concerns registration of new voters, Form 7 objections to inclusion or deletion, and Form 8 corrections and other specified changes.

What the statewide audit will examine

According to the Hindustan Times, as per instructions the election officials must scrutinise additions, deletions and amendments entered by computer assistants after April 10. It reported that the ECI had not released a consolidated account of the names added or deleted during this period.

The moot question that remains, however, is whether the audit trail –of who filed which form applications, who scrutinised and took what decisions (Vis a Vis Forms 6, 7 and 8) will be made public? More pertinently will there be a prosecution of the officials involved?

At an October 24 virtual meeting, Rinwa directed divisional commissioners, designated electoral roll observers, to supervise the work. District election officers must oversee the officials preparing the rolls.

Computer assistants have been barred from entering applications received physically. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) must digitise them through the BLO App, while the original documents must be preserved. Electoral Registration Officers have been instructed to review pending Forms 6, 7 and 8 daily. There is silence from the poll body however on whether they will be made public as the law demands!

“All entries must be verified to prevent a recurrence of a Pilibhit incident,” Rinwa said, according to the report. He also directed officials to ensure that the draft roll for the forthcoming Special Summary Revision was free of duplicate entries.

The instructions include protecting ERONET login credentials, changing passwords and addressing complaints received since April 10 through grievance portals, social media and other channels. District election officers in Bulandshahr, Sitapur, Ghaziabad and Aligarh were criticised for delayed reports on alleged duplicate voters.

However, the Commission also issued a November 12 deadline for publication of the forthcoming draft roll. Requests under the “Book a Call with BLO” service must not remain pending beyond 48 hours, and BLOs must contact voters before marking themselves unavailable.

Pilibhit: 10,470 approved changes found irregular

The immediate concern is Pilibhit, where an inquiry found irregularities in 10,470 approved changes to voter records after publication of the final SIR roll.

An FIR was registered on October 22 against two Electoral Registration Officers and a computer operator. The case concerns 13,779 Form 8 entries made between May 31 and August 29, 10,470 were approved and 3,309 rejected. No corresponding application forms or supporting records were found in the office.

“This is not an error or negligence. This is a crime. It was done deliberately,” Rinwa told The Times of India.

That the FIR invoked Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Section 201 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Rinwa said the operator entered applications without receiving them from voters and the officers approved them. These are the authorities’ findings and allegations underlying the proceedings; criminal responsibility remains for the legal process to determine.

Officials and applicants face different provisions

Rinwa has warned that Electoral Registration Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and computer assistants could face action under Section 32 for irregularities. District election officers could also be held responsible for inadequate supervision, according to the audit reports.

Separately, the CEO’s office issued an October 17 statement on Form 7, warning against knowingly false statements or declarations. It cited Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which provides for imprisonment of up to one year, a fine, or both.

The statement directed officials to investigate objections according to the rules and act against false or fabricated claims. The two provisions concern different conduct: knowingly false declarations by applicants and breaches of official duty connected with electoral rolls.

Why close election margins matter

An October 25 analysis by Omar Rashid in The Wire explains the electoral significance of these discrepancies. Pilibhit’s 10,470 irregular entries exceed the BJP’s 2022 victory margin there of 6,970 votes.

Rashid found that 43 of the 100 constituencies flagged by the Samajwadi Party included seats the party narrowly won or lost in 2022. Across Uttar Pradesh, 170 seats were decided by margins of 15,000 votes or fewer; 124 had margins below 10,000, and 53 below 5,000.

Survey predictions cannot answer questions about the rolls

An analysis attributed to NDTV in a circulating social media post places the Samajwadi Party ahead in 183 Assembly segments, Congress in 40 and the BJP in 162, based on Uttar Pradesh’s 2024 Lok Sabha voting patterns. The post presents the combined SP–Congress tally of 223, above the Assembly majority mark of 202, as an encouraging sign for the alliance ahead of 2027.

This is a breakdown of past results rather than a fresh opinion survey.

Co-Convenor, Vote for Democracy, Teesta Setalvad has been questioning whether the UP Vidhan Sabha polls, or any polls post the exposes of past months can be held on the faulty SIR list at all. VFD has argued that not only must the SIR be scrapped but there must be a reversion to the 2024 Lok Sabha Rolls along with the First-Time Voter enrolment post 2024.

Congress and SP seek wider scrutiny

Congress raised the Pilibhit issue on October 21, alleging that the names of 13,150 voters had changed while their EPIC and serial numbers remained unchanged. That allegation must be distinguished from the subsequent official finding concerning 10,470 irregular approved Form 8 entries. Congress leaders sought an investigation into the SIR process and warned that mismatched identities could prevent otherwise eligible voters from exercising their franchise.

The Samajwadi Party has also submitted complaints about duplicate registrations and voter identity mismatches. In Azamgarh, an official inquiry found the name “Vikas Yadav” recorded at 13 places in Hindi in the electoral roll, following complaints raised by the party. Action was initiated against electoral officials. That finding should not be presented as proof that one person cast 13 votes, as The Wire reported.

Agra re-poll follows complaints about MLC voting

Separate concerns arose during the October 23 Legislative Council elections. SP state president Shyam Lal Pal sought action over alleged booth capturing and irregularities in Amroha, Agra, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Gorakhpur and other districts.

The party demanded examination of polling-station videos, fresh voting were warranted and FIRs against those responsible. It alleged that ruling-party representatives influenced voting and that earlier complaints had not received adequate action. These remain party allegations.

The ECI subsequently declared polling at three stations—20, 21 and 26—in the Agra Division Teachers’ Constituency void, fixing October 26 for fresh voting between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The stations were at Kheragarh, Saiya and Fatehabad. SP candidate Akash Agarwal had alleged harassment of supporters and irregularities during voting.

‘Thank god Ram didn’t hit a minority’: UP CEO’s communal reply

Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)’s official X handle on October 16, sarcastic response to errors in voter slips has triggered a political controversy, with question over the impartiality and conduct of the state’s top election official through official social media handle.

The controversy began after a voter’s name, “Ramhit Yadav”, was incorrectly rendered as “Ram ne Yadav ko Maara” in the electoral records.

The CEO acknowledged the mistake and cited another incorrect entry, “Ram ne Sharma ko Maara”, in the voter list for recent Legislative Council elections. However, his remark that it was fortunate that “Ram did not hit a minority”,

AAP questions CEO’s conduct and electoral impartiality

Reacting to the CEO’s remarks, Sanjay Singh called his language deeply communal and questioned whether free and fair elections could be conducted in Uttar Pradesh under an official making such statements. Singh announced that AAP would respond to the CEO at a press conference at 3 p.m. at the party’s office. He also alleged that the Election Commission’s handling of voter-list errors raised serious concerns and said the party would not allow alleged attempts to manipulate electoral rolls to help the BJP succeed. These are allegations made by Singh; the controversy over the erroneous entries, by itself, does not establish that the voter list was manipulated to favour any political party.

However, while the state-wide audit is an important step, this course correction has clearly happened under compulsion. UP’s State Election Commission must go beyond internal checks. With irregularities reported in voter records and complaints raised by opposition parties, the Election Commission must ensure that every addition, deletion and correction is properly verified and that the findings are made public.

Electoral Rolls too need to be the pre-SIR ones. Public confidence in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election will depend on a transparent process that protects every eligible voter’s right to vote.

Related:

UP voter lists: Software manipulates Voter’s names, Pilibhit investigation finds 10,470 irregular entries

Who controls access to voter records? ECINet audit raises fresh questions

Vote for Democracy seeks answers from ECI and TCS on ECI’s electoral database access and security

The post UP CEO orders voter roll audit after SIR glitches exposed: Can the 2027 election be fair without public scrutiny? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

]]> EXCLUSIVE – SIR: The total disenfranchisement of the Indian Voter is 16 crores, not 13.60 Crores? https://sabrangindia.in/exclusive-sir-thetotal-disenfranchisement-of-the-indian-voter-is-16-crores-not-13-60-crores/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 11:28:14 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49804 An analysis of the figures supplied alleges that SIR exclusions, combined with an estimated shortfall in the opening (base count) of the country’s electorate coupled with what seems like a deliberate failure to account adequately for new (first-time) voters, take the figure of nationwide exclusions to approximately 16 crore electors

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]]> A VFD Exclusive

How the ECI illegally disfranchised the voting rights of 16 crore Indians

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls raises a question that extends beyond the number of names deleted: how many electors should have been on the rolls when the exercise began? A comparison must account for those registered during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and those who became eligible (turned 18 years) in 2025 and 2026.

The calculation presented here places the number affected at approximately 16 crore, not 13.60 crores, as is widely estimated and understood. This calculation combines 11.80 crore in reductions and draft exclusions across three SIR phases with an estimated additional shortfall of above 4 crore voters. This is the basis of the allegation of large-scale disenfranchisement. However, (it must be noted) that the additional shortfall remains an estimate, and the figures combine different stages of revision.

The electorate covered by SIR

According to the supplied figures, the three phases of SIR began with a combined electorate of approximately 95.63 crore. Four jurisdictions—Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh—are identified as outside this SIR calculation.

Their respective electorates are listed as 2,45,72,114 in Assam, 57,11,969 in Himachal Pradesh, 88,02,348 in Jammu and Kashmir, and 1,90,576 in Ladakh. Together, they account for 3,92,77,007 electors, or approximately 3.93 crore.

Accordingly, the total electorate– as of 2024 Lok Sabha in the States and UTs taken under SIR in all the three phases– is 97, 79, 65, 560 – 3, 92, 77, 007 = 93, 86, 88, 553 Voters.

However, the ECI has taken (calculated) the base line figures differently. The ECI has done this by taking different dates and different years as its base calculation figure. This “strategy,” we argue, creates more room for confusion and also provides space for manipulations and arbitrary actions.

The figure(s) of the Indian Electorate taken by the ECI for the three phases of the self-designated SIR are as under:

93, 86, 88, 553 Lok Sabha Electors (2024)

The total deletions during the three phases of SIR amount to approximately 11.80 crore. These comprise 47 lakhs in Phase I, 5.18 crore in Phase II and 6.15 crore deletions in the Phase III draft electoral rolls.

However, according to a report by Deeksha Bhardwaj published by India News on September 25, 2026, Election Commission officials stated that 2.73 crore new voters in the 18–28 age group had been added to electoral rolls since the SIR exercise began in 2025. This is the reported figure for additions up to Phase II.

The combined existing electorate used for Phases I and II was 7,89,69,844 + 50,99,72,687 = 58,89,42,531. Against this baseline, the reported addition of 2.73 crore new electors forms the basis for estimating the number of new electors registered during Phase III.

Estimated new electors in Phase III

Applying the same proportion of new registrations to the Phase III electorate, the calculation is 273 × 3674 ÷ 5889 = approximately 1.70 crore. This is a projection based on the figures for the first two phases, not an officially reported figure for Phase III.

The analysis argues that these newly registered electors are not reflected in the baseline electorate used for SIR. It therefore combines the 2.73 crore reported additions in Phases I and II with the estimated 1.70 crore additions in Phase III, arriving at 4.43 crore new electors. When these additions are considered alongside the approximately 11.80 crore deletions, the combined figure is 16.23 crore (11.80 crores + 2.73 crores+ 1.70 crores).

In eight States and Union Territories (UTs), namely Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab and Uttarakhand, the electorate taken for SIR is 13.72 lakh lower than that recorded for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Adding this difference to the earlier figure gives 16.23 + 0.1372 = 16.3972 crore, i.e., approximately 16.40 crore.

Punjab: over 21.52 lakh electors removed from the 2024 Lok Sabha electorate

Punjab’s figures further illustrate the difference between the electorate recorded for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the numbers carried forward during the SIR. There were 2,15,67,196 electors in Punjab during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the SIR, the electorate was taken as 2,14,56,297, meaning that 1,10,899 electors were missing at the very beginning. However, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Punjab, had published 2,14,61,043 electors before the SIR, showing a discrepancy of 4,746 electors.

The draft rolls published on August 13, 2026, listed 1,93,94,435 electors, with 20,60,568 names deleted. Thereafter, another 86,038 names were removed from the draft rolls following decisions on 35,49,036 notices issued. This raises questions about the basis of the notices and the harassment caused by arbitrary action, particularly when 97.58% of the notices were allegedly baseless.

As a result, only 1,93,08,397 electors remained from the 2024 Lok Sabha electorate. A further 7,97,263 new electors were added. While the CEO claimed that only 13 lakh electors had been removed, the figures indicate that 21,52,696 electors from the existing electorate had been removed.

In all, the analysis puts the combined figure at approximately 16.40 crore, including deletions during SIR, reported additions of new electors up to Phase II, estimated additions in Phase III and the difference in the electorate recorded for eight States and UTs. The estimate combines figures from different stages of SIR, and the Phase III additions are projected rather than officially reported.

(This is a numeric analysis by experts with Vote for Democracy (VFD) based on available and projected figures)

 

Related:
UP voter lists: Software manipulates Voter’s names, Pilibhit investigation finds 10,470 irregular entries

Who controls access to voter records? ECINet audit raises fresh questions

Vote for Democracy seeks answers from ECI and TCS on ECI’s electoral database access and security

The post EXCLUSIVE – SIR: The total disenfranchisement of the Indian Voter is 16 crores, not 13.60 Crores? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

]]> Christian families assaulted, humiliated and forced into Durga Puja rituals in West Bengal village https://sabrangindia.in/christian-families-assaulted-humiliated-and-forced-into-durga-puja-rituals-in-west-bengal-village/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 12:38:36 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49800 Three Christian families in Paschim Medinipur allege three days of violence, threats and religious coercion by people identified as Bajrang Dal members; 13 people have been named in an FIR, but no arrests have been reported

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]]> Three Christian families in Patlapur village in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district were allegedly subjected to three consecutive days of assault, intimidation and religious coercion, with members of the families beaten inside their homes, women’s clothes torn, a minor girl allegedly attacked, and the victims forced to participate in Durga Puja rituals against their will. The families have identified the alleged attackers as members of the Hindutva organisation Bajrang Dal.

The attacks, reported by The Indian Express, took place under Chandrakona police station limits on October 18, 19 and 20, amid allegations that the families had faced sustained harassment for embracing Christianity. The assailants allegedly threatened to kill them, burn their homes and force them to renounce their faith. Despite the families approaching the police, the intimidation continued for three days before a formal First Information Report (FIR) was registered on October 20.

Thirteen people have been named in the FIR. As reported by The Indian Express on October 23, no arrests had been made at the time of publication, although police personnel had been deployed near the families’ homes.

Women assaulted, clothes torn; families threatened over their faith

Lakshmi Mondal, one of the victims, told The Wire that the harassment intensified on October 16, when a group allegedly threatened the Christian families with consequences unless they abandoned their religion. Two days later, the threats escalated into physical violence.

Recounting the assault, Lakshmi said she was struck below her ear by Ranjit Dolui and lost consciousness. When she partially regained consciousness, she could feel people removing her sari and tearing her blouse. She subsequently learnt that Dolui, Pocha Patra and Bapi Mondal had allegedly stripped and assaulted her.

The attackers allegedly splashed water on her face to revive her before pouring water over her body in front of onlookers, chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and declaring that she had been purified. Lakshmi said she was left lying on the floor of her home in that condition. The group also allegedly took away a Bible kept in the house.

The violence was accompanied by explicit threats against her family. According to Lakshmi’s account to The Wire, the assailants threatened to rape her Class X daughter and burn the family alive if they refused to abandon Christianity and return to Hinduism. The group allegedly attacked the homes of two other Christian families, including that of Saraswati Mondal and her husband, Ashok Mondal. Saraswati’s 15-year-old daughter was allegedly subjected to an attempt to strangle her, according to the family.

The account provided by a 40-year-old victim to The Indian Express corroborated the allegations of assault and forced religious purification. She said that on October 18, a group dragged her and her husband out of their home, beat them and tore her clothes before making her consume Tulsi and Bel leaves and pouring water over her as a purification ritual.

The allegations point to more than physical violence. The victims describe being publicly humiliated and subjected to rituals intended to undermine their religious identity, in an apparent attempt to force them to abandon a faith they say they had adopted voluntarily.

Forced to offer anjali at Durga Puja pandal

The attacks allegedly continued on October 19, when members of the group forced the families to participate in Hindu religious rituals. Lakshmi told The Wire that Madan Manna and Bappaditya Chatterjee, who were allegedly part of the previous day’s assault, took her and her husband, Tapan Mondal, along with Saraswati and her husband, Gopal Mondal, to a Durga Puja pandal in Dangal.

“They took us there against our will and forced us to offer anjali,” she alleged.

The families said they were made to participate in the ritual in front of others despite having been assaulted the previous day. The incident, as described by the victims, illustrates how religious rituals were allegedly used as instruments of coercion rather than voluntary expressions of faith.

On October 20, the intimidation allegedly continued. Lakshmi said that Manna and his associates took the men of the affected families to an isolated location and threatened to kill them if they did not renounce their belief in Jesus Christ. According to the complaint, the accused also abused and threatened Lakshmi and other family members and confined her inside her house. The families said they were too frightened to leave their homes and sent three minor girls to stay with relatives for their safety. Lakshmi eventually approached the police station again and lodged a formal complaint naming 13 people. The families said a police picket was deployed only after the FIR was registered.

Harassment allegedly began last year

The families told The Wire that the hostility did not begin with the October attacks. According to their account, Lakshmi’s husband, Tapan, his brother Gopal and another villager had embraced Christianity several years ago. Other residents of neighbouring villages had also converted. Lakshmi maintained that the decision was voluntary and rooted in their religious beliefs. She said the families continued to respect other religions and had been practising Christianity peacefully inside their homes.

However, she alleged that her relatives, Asit, Arun, Barun and Tarun Mondal, began harassing the family during Durga Puja last year, questioning their decision to convert. The family said they had submitted a written complaint to Chandrakona police station at the time. Although the police visited the village, they alleged that no effective action was taken against those accused of harassment.

The families said the intimidation later intensified, particularly after the change of government in West Bengal in May. According to Lakshmi, the attackers allegedly invoked the arrival of a new government and claimed that the Bajrang Dal would ensure that the families abandoned Christianity. Several witnesses who spoke to The Wire reportedly corroborated aspects of the victims’ account. 

Police security offered, but families remain afraid

Patlapur, located around 15 kilometres from Chandrakona town, is home to approximately 150 families belonging to different social and religious communities. Agriculture and the manufacture of copper ornaments are among the principal sources of livelihood in the area. Local primary school teacher Soumitra Gharui told The Wire that the village had not witnessed caste-related disputes or violence of this nature for decades. Residents alleged that efforts to disturb the area’s social harmony had begun around a year ago.

The families said the three days of violence had left them traumatised. Lakshmi also expressed concern for her elderly father-in-law, Krishnapada Mondal, who has reportedly been living with paralysis for several years and witnessed the harassment of the family. Speaking to The Indian Express, one of the victims said that four police personnel had been stationed outside their homes. While welcoming the security, she expressed fear that the protection might not last.

“We are happy the police helped us. But threat calls are coming. One day the police will leave. What will we do then?” she said. She added that she wanted only to live peacefully in her own home.

On October 21, Paschim Medinipur Superintendent of Police Papiya Sultana told The Wire that an FIR had been registered and that the police would provide security to the families and investigate the incident. Speaking to The Indian Express, Sultana said a police picket had been deployed because the families felt insecure and that the police were taking steps to prevent further incidents. An advocate who assisted the victims told The Indian Express that the FIR was registered after he visited the police station on October 20, but the accused had not been arrested.

For the families, the immediate concern remains their safety. They have alleged that they were threatened, assaulted and pressured to abandon their faith despite seeking police intervention. While a police picket has been established, the absence of reported arrests has added to their apprehension.

 

Related:

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Six police personnel suspended after custodial death of Dilshad Ansari in Bihar

‘Free the Temple’, ‘Defend the Faith’, ‘Take Up Weapons’: How festivals became vehicles for anti-Muslim hate in September

Six Days, One Unanswered Question: What happened to Shaheen and Nafisa Khan at Saket Police Station?

 

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]]> Mumbai police detain 140 protesters as student’s demand justice for Sahil Wakode, accountability from IIT Bombay https://sabrangindia.in/mumbai-police-detain-140-protesters-as-students-demand-justice-for-sahil-wakode-accountability-from-iit-bombay/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 12:17:22 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49797 120 tribal students also detained at Shivaji Park amid demands for accountability over alleged deaths in residential schools

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]]> Mumbai Police detained around 140 students and activists across Dadar on Sunday, October 25, disrupting two separate protests demanding accountability over alleged institutional failures and the treatment of marginalised students. Among those detained were stand-up comedian Masoom Rajwani and other Ambedkarite activists who had gathered at Chaityabhoomi to hold a candlelight vigil for Sahil Wakode, a 22-year-old Dalit student of IIT Bombay who died by suicide on September 18.

https://www.instagram.com/p/De8wW4MjUw_/ 

Parents of Wakode were also detained, and released later. 

The detentions at Chaityabhoomi, the memorial site of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, came amid mounting demands for accountability from the IIT Bombay administration over allegations of caste-based harassment preceding Wakode’s death. Rather than allowing students and concerned citizens to mourn and demand justice peacefully, the police deployed a heavy force, prevented the gathering from proceeding freely and detained participants on the grounds that the vigil lacked permission. 

According to The Hindu, approximately 20 to 25 people were detained at Chaityabhoomi, with protesters alleging that police personnel forcibly removed participants, including women. The Times of India also reported the detentions, confirming that Rajwani was among those taken into custody. Police maintained that the gathering was unauthorised and cited law-and-order concerns.

The Progressive Students Union (PSU) had called for the candlelight vigil at 5.30 p.m. to pay tribute to Wakode and demand an impartial investigation into his death. Participants included students and activists associated with organisations supporting the struggle for justice, including individuals from IIT Bombay and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

According to accounts reported by The Hindu, protesters alleged that police personnel carried out two rounds of detentions, at around 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tejas Anoop of Aamchi Padhai Aamchi Ladai said police approached individuals and detained those they suspected of participating in the protest, including people carrying candles or placards. He further alleged that people who questioned the detentions or sought written authorisation were also taken away.

Rajwani told The Hindu that he arrived at Chaityabhoomi around 6.10 p.m. and that the march had still not begun by 7.30 p.m. He alleged that four police personnel lifted him by his arms and legs while detaining him, causing a minor scratch. He also claimed that detainees were not told where they were being taken and were not provided water during transportation.

Another participant, Akalya, alleged that four police personnel put her inside a van while she was photographing the gathering. She said she was kept inside for approximately 30 to 45 minutes without being informed of the reason for her detention. Her phone was temporarily taken away when she tried to contact her family, she alleged.

Deepali, another participant, said she had been taken to a police station and released around 6.30 p.m. She maintained that the gathering was intended to be peaceful and condemned the manner in which participants were treated. Social media posts also raised allegations that police had prevented activists, including the general secretary of the All India Independent Scheduled Caste Association (AIISCA), from reaching Chaityabhoomi.

Despite the police action, approximately 40 to 50 people subsequently gathered to pay tribute to Wakode, according to reports. Those detained were released from police stations in Tardeo, Worli and Dadar later that evening.

A month of protests, allegations of police brutality

Wakode, a second-year BTech student at IIT Bombay’s Powai campus, was found dead in his hostel room on September 18, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone during a mid-semester examination. His parents and fellow students subsequently raised allegations of caste-based harassment and mistreatment.

A police complaint named Professor Suryanarayana Doolla and invoked provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, alongside provisions relating to abetment of suicide. Doolla, who was removed from his position as dean of students’ welfare and sent on leave, has been at the centre of allegations concerning his treatment of Wakode. The professor and IIT Bombay Director Shireesh Kedare have denied allegations of caste-based discrimination. The Mumbai Crime Branch has taken over the investigation and recorded statements from more than 40 people.

The police action at Chaityabhoomi followed earlier detentions of Wakode’s parents and protesting students on October 18, exactly a month after his death. At the time, police also demolished the protest site outside IIT Bombay and detained several people. Students and activists have continued to allege that the police, acting alongside the institutional response to the death, have repeatedly attempted to suppress their demands for accountability.

As The Wire previously reported, a student injured during an earlier protest received a medico-legal certificate from KMJ Hospital in Vikhroli that reportedly recorded “assault by Powai police” as the cause of injury. The certificate also documented blunt trauma to the shoulder and a linear abrasion over the right elbow, alongside a reported attempt to strangle the student. Earlier social media posts had also alleged that women protesters were dragged, beaten and inappropriately touched by police personnel.

84 organisations demand IIT Bombay director’s resignation

The police crackdown came as 84 organisations from across the country issued an open letter demanding the resignation of IIT Bombay Director Professor Shireesh Kedare, describing it as a necessary measure of institutional accountability following Wakode’s death. As reported by Maktoob Media, the letter accused the institute of responding to complaints of caste discrimination with callousness and repression. The signatories questioned the administration’s decision to refer to Wakode as a “cheater” in its initial communication following his death, arguing that the statement risked discrediting the student before the circumstances surrounding his death had been adequately investigated.

The letter also criticised the public support extended by the institute’s faculty body to Doolla, who has been named in the police complaint, and raised concerns about the alleged selective release of examination-hall CCTV footage to the media. It further condemned the police action against Wakode’s parents and fellow students during earlier protests.

“The series of events which has unfolded following the unfortunate demise of your student Sahil Wakode has revealed IIT Bombay administration to be spectacularly callous at best or maliciously repressive towards complaints of caste discrimination,” the letter stated.

The signatories include student unions, Ambedkarite organisations, teachers’ associations and civil rights groups, including the Ambedkar Students’ Association, Students’ Federation of India, All India Students’ Association, National Alliance of People’s Movements and Disha Students’ Organisation.

The organisations argued that the director’s resignation was necessary to establish accountability and send a clear message that allegations of discrimination and harassment against marginalised students cannot be brushed aside through institutional statements or disciplinary narratives that shift scrutiny onto the deceased student.

Tribal students detained at Shivaji Park

The crackdown was not confined to Chaityabhoomi. At nearby Shivaji Park, Mumbai Police detained approximately 120 tribal students and activists who had assembled to demand the resignation of Maharashtra Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike, along with the commissioner and secretary of the tribal development department.

According to PTI and The New Indian Express, the protesters were seeking accountability for deteriorating conditions in tribal residential schools, an inquiry into the alleged deaths of 584 students, improved hostel facilities and the scrapping of the contract system for centralised kitchens in tribal residential schools.

The students had reportedly been agitating since August. Their earlier demonstration on October 5 had ended with police detaining participants and sending them back to their hometowns in Nashik, Nandurbar and Jalgaon. On Sunday, protesters said they were detained at Dadar railway station and near Tilak Bhavan before they could reach the proposed venue. Police personnel were also reportedly deployed at railway stations and bus stops along routes leading to Shivaji Park. The protesters had sought permission to demonstrate at Azad Maidan and Shivaji Park but were denied permission. They said they would continue their agitation at Azad Maidan on Monday.

Taken together, the detentions at Shivaji Park and Chaityabhoomi reveal a disturbing pattern: students raising questions about caste deaths, discrimination and the treatment of vulnerable communities are met with preventive custody and restrictions on assembly rather than meaningful engagement with their grievances.

At Chaityabhoomi, the demand was for justice for a young Dalit student whose death has raised serious questions about caste discrimination and institutional responsibility. At Shivaji Park, tribal students were seeking accountability for conditions in residential schools and alleged student deaths. Both gatherings were disrupted by police action.

Related:

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Dalit Class XI student dies by suicide after alleged casteist harassment in Coimbatore School

Mumbai Police detain Ambedkarite leaders demanding justice for Sahil Wakode; IIT Bombay refuses to hear delegation

Bihar custodial death: Six suspended after Dilshad Ansari’s death in custody; family demands high-level probe

When a Student Dies, Who Questions the Institution? | Sahil Wakode’s Parents Seek Justice | Teesta

Caged in Police Vans, Beaten in Custody, Journalists Attacked: Delhi’s crackdown on anti-CEC protests draws UN condemnation

Police detain Adivasi students for second day, force them out of Mumbai

 

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]]> Jamia students reject conditional election assurance, two continue hunger strike https://sabrangindia.in/jamia-students-reject-conditional-election-assurance-two-continue-hunger-strike/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 10:34:56 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49792 After 14 days of agitation, the university has promised polls 15 days after the approval of a union constitution, but offers no deadline for that approval and demands a public apology from protesters

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]]> The struggle for the restoration of a democratically elected students’ union at Jamia Millia Islamia is far from over. On Monday, October 26, even as the university administration issued an order promising elections within 15 days of the approval of a new union constitution, two students, Ebin Basil and Rehan Khan, refused to call off their hunger strike, maintaining that the administration had failed to address their core demands.

The order, issued by the Office of the Registrar, came after nearly a fortnight of sustained protests, hunger strikes, police deployment, detentions and mounting pressure from students and supporters across university campuses. A day before, the students were also alleged assaulted by police officers. Yet, instead of bringing the agitation to a close, its conditional terms have deepened the impasse.

According to the notice, the university has agreed to hold elections 15 days after the constitution is approved, revoked suspension and show-cause notices issued during the protest, and promised an inquiry into the conduct of security personnel. However, the order also requires protesting students to publicly apologise for alleged defamatory remarks and actions against the administration and remove related social media posts. For the protesting students, the central problem remains unresolved: the administration has offered no definite deadline for drafting and approving the constitution, leaving the election schedule contingent on a process with no specified completion date.

In view of the same, Ebin Basil and Rehan Khan would continue their hunger strike after students rejected all three points in the October 26 order. The students alleged that they had been pressured into signing an agreement at around 3 am, with the university’s conditions failing to provide the assurances they had sought. The demand for the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Mazhar Asif and Chief Proctor has also not been addressed. While two hunger strikers are continuing their fast, Jasim Khan and Faizan are expected to discontinue theirs because of their medical conditions, according to the account shared by Mufti.

The administration’s order thus offers a partial response to the agitation while leaving crucial questions about accountability, disciplinary action and the timeline for restoring elected student representation unanswered.

A campus increasingly marked by restrictions

The announcement followed two weeks of escalating tension on campus, with the administration and security personnel repeatedly attempting to contain the agitation. As reported by The Indian Express, Sunday, October 25, saw more than 500 students gather in support of the protest amid a heavy security deployment. Students alleged that access to the protest site, the library and the canteen had been restricted, while university gates were closed and students were prevented from entering the campus. Security personnel from the Delhi Police, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police were deployed in and around the university.

 

The administration had shifted classes online on October 24, citing the prevailing situation and the need to ensure students’ safety. The move came amid allegations that protesters were being prevented from accessing campus facilities and that security personnel had attempted to dismantle their protest arrangements.

On Saturday, students alleged that a university delegation had attempted to dismantle their tents and take hunger strikers to hospital against their wishes. The five students on hunger strike subsequently moved into the Department of Political Science and locked themselves inside to prevent their removal.

The tensions intensified further on October 25, when students attempting to reach the protest site reportedly climbed campus walls, some of which were topped with metal spikes and rods. Students continued to organise marches and raise slogans despite the restrictions. The agitation also drew attention to allegations that access to food and water had been obstructed. By the time the administration issued its order on Monday, concerns about the physical condition of the hunger strikers had become increasingly urgent. Jasim Khan’s health deteriorated during the protest, and he was taken to hospital on the 14th night before returning to campus in the early hours of Monday, according to accounts of the agitation.

Students also alleged that they were dragged by police.

 

 

A promise of elections without a deadline

Jamia students began their agitation on October 11, with the hunger strike commencing on October 12, demanding the restoration of the Jamia Millia Islamia Students’ Union (JMISU), a definite election schedule and the withdrawal of disciplinary action against protesters. They also called for the removal of the university’s Chief Proctor and Security Advisor, citing the treatment of students during the agitation.

The union has remained defunct since 2006, with the last elections held in 2005. Nearly two decades without an elected students’ body have left successive batches of students without a formal representative platform to raise campus-wide grievances.

As The Indian Express reported on October 26, students had repeatedly rejected the administration’s position that a new constitution must first be drafted before elections can be scheduled. They argued that the constitution-drafting process should not become an indefinite obstacle to restoring the union and had sought elections by November 30.

The university, meanwhile, maintained that the process required the drafting of a constitution, preparation of electoral rolls and the subsequent announcement of an election date. An official told The Indian Express that the process could not be rushed after a gap of almost 20 years, particularly in view of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations and changes in applicable University Grants Commission regulations.

The students, however, maintained that the administration had not offered a concrete, time-bound commitment. They cited the Supreme Court’s 2006 judgment in University of Kerala v. Council of Principals, Colleges, Kerala and the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations in support of their demand for a clear electoral roadmap.

The October 26 order has not resolved this dispute. By tying the election date to the approval of the constitution, without specifying when that approval must take place, the administration has left the most important deadline dependent on its own future decisions.

Detailed report may be read here.

Disciplinary action and apology demand fuel discontent

The order also addresses disciplinary action initiated during the agitation, but students have questioned the scope of the relief offered. While suspension and show-cause notices issued during the protest are to be revoked, protesters have pointed out that the order does not clearly guarantee the unconditional withdrawal of all disciplinary measures, including rustication and campus bans.

Ebin Basil, a third-year law student who has been among the hunger strikers, told The Indian Express that the order failed to address the position of students who had been rusticated or barred from campus. He also questioned the demand that protesters publicly apologise for their criticism of the administration. The apology clause has emerged as another major point of contention. The university has required students to issue a public apology at a press conference for alleged defamatory statements, actions or social media posts directed against the administration. The posts are to be removed immediately, with compliance monitored by the university.

Students have rejected this condition, arguing that their agitation was a peaceful campaign for democratic representation and accountability. Their refusal to apologise reflects a broader disagreement over the administration’s handling of dissent and its attempt to make the withdrawal of the protest conditional on public expressions of contrition.

The university has also directed that the agitation be called off immediately. But the continued hunger strike by Ebin and Rehan demonstrates that the written order has not secured the consent of all the protesters.

Protest draws political support, detentions and an FIR

The Jamia agitation has expanded beyond the immediate question of student elections, drawing support from political representatives, former students and university communities across the country.

Congress MP Imran Masood was detained by Delhi Police after visiting the protesting students, while Samajwadi Party MP Mohibbullah Nadvi alleged that police had pushed and manhandled him before detaining him as he travelled to meet the protesters. Nadvi was subsequently released.

The university also lodged a complaint against Congress MPs Imran Masood and Imran Pratapgarhi over their entry into the campus, leading to an FIR over allegations of trespass and related conduct, as reported by The Indian Express and other media outlets. The MPs had visited amid the ongoing agitation and demands for the restoration of the union and withdrawal of disciplinary action.

The struggle continues

The university’s October 26 order marks a significant development after 14 days of sustained agitation, but it does not signal the end of the confrontation. The absence of a fixed deadline for approving the union constitution, uncertainty over the full withdrawal of disciplinary action and the demand for a public apology remain central points of disagreement.

The administration has asked the students to end their protest and warned of legal action if they fail to vacate the protest site. According to Moneycontrol, the Registrar said the university would issue a formal notice giving protesters 30 minutes after 9 am to disperse, citing the undertaking signed by the students.

But Ebin Basil and Rehan Khan have continued their hunger strike, refusing to accept an order they believe falls short of their demands. Their position underscores the gap between the administration’s announcement and the protesters’ insistence on clear, enforceable commitments.

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Mumbai Police detain Ambedkarite leaders demanding justice for Sahil Wakode; IIT Bombay refuses to hear delegation

Calcutta High Court says political dissent must not be stifled, directs police to protect CPI(M) bookstall near Durga Puja Pandal

 

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]]> Two Election Commissioners complained over work allocation changes; RTI records reveal why Cabinet Secretariat declined action https://sabrangindia.in/two-election-commissioners-complained-over-work-allocation-changes-rti-records-reveal-why-cabinet-secretariat-declined-action/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 08:12:09 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49789 RTI records reveal why Cabinet Secretariat declined action on two Election Commissioners’ complaints against a senior officer amid objections over centralised voter database control, changes in oversight and an electoral roll officer’s departure during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise

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]]> Official documents obtained by RTI activist Commodore Lokesh K Batra (Retd) reveal how the Cabinet Secretariat handled complaints from Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi against Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg. The two Commissioners wrote separately to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan on July 29, 2026, seeking action over a work allocation order issued without consulting them or the Commission.

The disclosures follow the September 23 investigation by The Indian Express, which documented repeated internal objections over the centralisation of electoral roll management, restrictions on statutory officials’ access to voter databases and changes in oversight of the Election Commission’s IT division.

The newly disclosed records show that the Cabinet Secretariat considered seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s opinion. It ultimately acknowledged the complaints but concluded that acting without a formal communication from the Commission as a whole could be construed as interference in a constitutional body.

ECINet’s launch followed earlier warnings about software controls

ECINet was launched on January 22, 2026, bringing more than 40 election applications and portals onto a single platform for voters and election officials. CEC Gyanesh Kumar said the platform had been developed in accordance with the law, while Director General of Information Technology Seema Khanna said it would “enhance transparency, credibility and public trust”.

The platform was presented as a means of simplifying election services and addressing misinformation. Kumar also offered assistance to other countries interested in developing similar systems suited to their laws and languages.

Within the Commission, however, concerns about software restricting the powers of election officials had surfaced before ECINet’s launch. These initially involved ERONet, the electoral roll management system subsequently brought within ECINet.

On November 4, 2025, Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, acting on Sandhu’s directions, wrote to Khanna and other senior officers. He said the statutory functions of Electoral Registration Officers, District Election Officers and Chief Electoral Officers had to be exercised by those authorities alone and that the IT systems must comply with the law.

On January 2, 2026, with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) underway in 12 States and Union Territories, Kumar again wrote to Khanna. As a module for issuing notices and conducting hearings was being introduced, he asked that the system preserve the ERO’s discretion to act.

Commissioners questioned centralisation and sought an audit

The concerns related to the relationship between statutory responsibility and control over the software used to discharge it. The Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, assign responsibility for preparing electoral rolls and deciding claims, objections, inclusions and deletions to designated statutory authorities.

The Commissioners’ objection was that centrally controlled software access was restricting those authorities’ ability to perform their duties.

On April 16, Sandhu recorded that the IT division had developed several modules and portals without bringing them to his knowledge or presenting them before the Commission. He said he had learnt about developments through the media and asked that all members be briefed and the necessary approvals obtained before further activities were undertaken.

On May 29, Joshi wrote to the CEC, Sandhu and Sanjay Kumar about the “gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database”. He proposed an audit involving an outside expert from the Indian Institutes of Technology to establish that only the relevant statutory authorities possessed credentials to change the voter database.

Joshi proposed two committees. One would periodically examine the systems and certify that database access remained with the statutory authorities. The other would assess legal compliance and ensure that policy or procedural changes to ERONet and ECINet were brought before the Commission.

According to the Indian Express, Sandhu endorsed the proposal on July 13 and asked that it be placed before the Commission. On August 14, he recorded “Any action taken on these two notes of two Election Commissioners is not known to the undersigned.”

July 28 order removed a layer of IT oversight

The work allocation dispute arose while Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu, who handled administration, was on leave from July 27 to August 9. Garg received additional charge of the administration division and issued a revised work allocation order on July 28.

The order removed Sanjay Kumar’s oversight of the DG(IT). Until then, Kumar had supervised the division’s work and routed its files to the three-member Commission.

The change affected the administrative channel through which the Commissioners had sought information about the IT division and proposed scrutiny of its systems.

In separate letters to the Cabinet Secretary on July 29, Sandhu and Joshi complained that Garg had revised the allocation of work among senior officers without discussing it with the Commission or the officers concerned. They said this had happened despite repeated oral and written instructions against making such changes without prior discussion or approval.

Sandhu said the revised allocation had not been discussed with or communicated to him. Joshi added that when he sought the relevant file from the administration division, it was not provided.

Both Commissioners alleged that the action departed from established practice and violated the law governing the Commission.

Two Commissioners set aside the order

On July 30, a day after writing to the Cabinet Secretary, Sandhu and Joshi jointly set aside Garg’s order.

They described the changes as having been made “without any reason and justification” and directed that the previous allocation continues until the Commission reached a consensus on any revision. Their note was sent to Garg and copied to the CEC.

The sequence is significant: The Commissioners first sought action from the Cabinet Secretary and then jointly directed that the disputed administrative changes should not operate.

Cabinet Secretariat considered seeking the CEC’s opinion

The RTI records show that the complaints were examined within the Cabinet Secretariat on August 3 and August 4.

The August 3 noting summarised the allegation that Garg had revised the work allocation of officers equivalent or senior to him without consulting the Commission or those concerned. It also recorded the Commissioners’ complaint that this had occurred despite earlier instructions requiring prior discussion or approval.

“In this connection, we may request the Chief Election Commissioner for his opinion on the issue,” the noting stated, as the Times of India reported. 

The disclosed material does not establish whether the proposed communication seeking the CEC’s opinion was sent or whether he responded. The following day’s noting records the course ultimately adopted: acknowledge the letters, inform the CEC’s office and place the matter on record with the personnel authorities.

Why the Secretariat declined action

The Cabinet Secretariat noted that the Election Commission was a constitutional body designed to function independently of executive interference. It also referred to Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, under which business should be transacted unanimously wherever possible, with differences resolved by majority.

However, it treated the two letters as communications from the Commissioners individually rather than a formal reference from the Commission.

“The above communications are from the ECs in their individual capacity and, while they must be taken with due seriousness, they cannot be seen as a formal communication from the Commission as a whole,” the August 4 noting stated, The Hindu reported.

The Secretariat reasoned that although Garg had been appointed through the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, his conduct as an ECI officer was governed by the Commission’s rules and guidelines.

It therefore concluded that, without an official communication from the Commission as a whole, action at that stage could be inappropriate and construed as interference in the constitutional body’s functioning.

Complaints acknowledged and placed on record

Somanathan acknowledged both Commissioners’ letters on August 5. Copies were marked to the CEC’s office, the Department of Personnel and Training Secretary and the Establishment Officer.

The acknowledgement referred specifically to their July 29 letters concerning the working of Garg, a 1996-batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS officer serving as Senior Deputy Election Commissioner.

The Cabinet Secretariat also decided that the personnel authorities should retain the matter on record so it could be considered in future decisions concerning the officer.

The decision thus left the complaints formally recorded but did not initiate the action the Commissioners had sought.

Sandhu raised further concerns about restricted access

On August 14, Sandhu recorded a more detailed objection to the operation of the electoral roll system. He said several Chief Electoral Officers, District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers had reported that they lacked “proper and complete access” to ERONet and were consequently unable to discharge their statutory duties properly.

He objected to responsibility remaining with these authorities while access was controlled centrally at the DG(IT) level.

Sandhu said the DG(IT) had no legal authority to restrict the access and operational freedom available to statutory authorities under the law. He directed that full access be provided immediately.

He also sought certification from the DG(IT), based on confirmations from Chief Electoral Officers, that statutory authorities across States and Union Territories could perform their functions without restrictions.

Sanjay Kumar, handling the ‘Electoral Roll’ division in ECI moved out of ECI

On Aug 24, Sanjay Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner was moved out of ECI while the two Election Commissioners complained against Maneesh Garg.

Kumar had been handling the electoral roll division and had earlier communicated directions seeking to protect statutory officials’ powers from restrictions imposed through the IT system. His oversight of the DG(IT) had also been affected by the July 28 order that the two Commissioners subsequently set aside.

His departure forms part of the chronology. The material supplied does not, however, establish that it resulted from the Commissioners’ complaints or his earlier communications.

ECI said the disputed order never took effect

The ECI responded on September 26 that the work redistribution orders issued by the officer concerned were never implemented following the two Commissioners’ directions.

It also maintained that their letters to the Cabinet Secretary concerned an officer on deputation, rather than policy decisions or matters relating to the IT division.

The RTI disclosures establish how the Cabinet Secretariat handled those letters: it acknowledged the complaints, informed the CEC’s office and personnel authorities, and declined executive action. The wider record contains repeated objections about database centralisation, access restrictions and oversight.

Related:

Who controls access to voter records? ECINet audit raises fresh questions

Vote for Democracy seeks answers from ECI and TCS on ECI’s electoral database access and security

Barricades and detentions fail to stop Delhi protesters marching against CEC

Protest Denied, Dissent Policed: India’s crackdown on those challenging the Election Commission

 

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]]> State Censorship: Pushback by Filmmakers, Juries and Audiences Enable Screenings https://sabrangindia.in/state-censorship-pushback-by-filmmakers-juries-and-audiences-enable-screenings/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 06:21:51 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49774 The authorities’ attempts to censor films perceived as “problematic” at film festivals only validates the power of cinema, says Smriti Nevatia, examining the films that did not make the state’s cut. Cinema, the youngest of the major art forms, is now a venerable 131, which is why certain classic films get to celebrate their centenaries. Sergei […]

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The authorities’ attempts to censor films perceived as “problematic” at film festivals only validates the power of cinema, says Smriti Nevatia, examining the films that did not make the state’s cut.

Cinema, the youngest of the major art forms, is now a venerable 131, which is why certain classic films get to celebrate their centenaries. Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, a foundational text for film students around the world, observed its 100th anniversary in 2025 by being banned at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), 12-19 December 2025.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) in its opaque wisdom refused to allow a tribute screening of the classic, while also disallowing Argentinian filmmaker Fernando Solanas’s iconic political documentary The Hour of the Furnaces (1968) and other – mainly Palestinian – films.

Cancelling Potemkin, which pioneered several aspects of the language of cinema while portraying the brutal suppression of people’s rebellions by the Tsarist state, is like banning Premchand at an Indian literary symposium because the powers-that-be are less than enchanted by his stories depicting social oppression (or corrupt officials). It indicates a disturbing lack of historical and cultural understanding, which was once again on unabashed display last month when the 18th edition of the prestigious International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), 25-30 September 2026, was made to drop as many as 31 films (selected from more than 1700 entries) from its screening schedule at the last minute.

(Editor’s Note: After protests from film-makers, 23 films were permitted to be screened. Scroll down for the list of eight films that were denied a screening)

IDSFFK and its older sibling IFFK are both government-funded events, held in Thiruvananthapuram under the auspices of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. This can make for piquant political irony, not to mention the occasional open clash. Kerala, ruled by the Left Democratic Front coalition when the 2025 censorship brouhaha occurred, is today a Congress-led state, while MIB operates under the political tutelage of the ruling party at the Centre.

The state is the state

Bina Paul, well-known film editor, and co-founder of the Women in Cinema Collective that advocates for issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, was Artistic Director of both IFFK (over 20 years) and IDSFFK (around 15 years). Does she think cultural events like film festivals are becoming new political flashpoints?

Bina cautions against thinking of these as new. “The state is the state,” she says, and every political party in power pushes back against criticism, the difference being that 20 years ago it would be a “gentle suggestion” rather than an outright ban. “Earlier, we didn’t have to appeal to the Court. We would often just appeal to the [Ministry], and they’d look at it again.”

But more recently, “when Anand’s film was stopped, he went to court and got a stay order, and the festival was able to screen the film.” She is alluding to Anand Patwardhan’s Reason (Vivek), an indictment of Hindutva extremist groups for their alleged role in the assassination of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

In these post-truth times, we have grown familiar with the rewriting of history in school textbooks and in the public imagination. We have seen how censorship can be made to work both ways, through addition or subtraction. Protests against censorship have been par for the course, says Bina. “I feel it’s also what Kerala is – you can’t get away with things. There will be questions asked!…I think maybe in Kolkata as well.” To her mind, the really new factor is “fear”: bureaucrats are afraid to take decisions; everyone is nervous; a good deal of passing the buck occurs.

The beginnings of film festival censorship

It was the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) that notoriously set the film festival censorship controversy in motion in 2003. That year, a number of Indian film entries was rejected on the flimsy ground that they lacked “censor certificates” from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), necessary for a film’s theatrical release.

There were three problems with this, as Indian filmmakers were quick to point out: one, it had never before been a requirement in film festival spaces meant to promote the free flow of ideas and creative expression; two, the discriminatory rule was being imposed only on Indian, not on international films; three, this was blatant political censorship to weed out films critical of the state, including but not limited to films about the 2002 communal carnage in Gujarat. Some filmmakers pulled their films from the main festival and screened them alongside the rejected films at a well-attended alternative festival. The standoff had a salutary outcome: an official decision that no film, Indian or foreign, would need a censor certificate for film festival screenings; a festival would just have to submit its list of selected films, with synopses, to obtain the desired exemption from MIB.

This workaround has worked, largely. How, then, were 31 films ousted from IDSFFK’s line- up this year?

Imagine… You are a mid-level MIB bureaucrat. You can read. And this skill makes you as suited as the person in the next cubicle to wield your fat marker in the service of your country’s most literate state. Some town with some long name is holding some sort of film festival. You have seen quite a few films yourself; you even used to bunk school to go watch movies with your friends. You enjoyed “Dhurandhar 1 & 2”. Thus you are eminently qualified to decide which films might be a danger to members of the public, who might start getting ideas of the kind that would dismay your bosses.

It’s not a terribly hard task you’ve been given; you just have to read some synopses or something, you don’t actually have to watch the films, most have no stars or songs anyway, not even hot scenes like in that Swedish film you once stood for two hours in a queue to watch at a Dilli filmi festival! Just be on the lookout for red flags, you’ve been told. Those documentary filmmakers are particularly cunning. They  know how to plant those flags so well they’re hard to spot. But they can’t fool you! You find one, then another, then yet more, embedded inside words and phrases like caste, sanitation workers, Naxal-era, bauxite mining, Adivasi and Dalit, sex workers, land rights.

Some films titles themselves ring warning bells: Parliament Street, Redlight… Thanks to your vigilance, 31 of the 347 selected films will now not be shown at the upcoming IDSFFK in September. You are puffed up with patriotic pride. And so, when the s&@t hits the creaky fan above your desk, you are truly bewildered. Those cinema-mad mallus still have more than 300 films to watch. And yet they are so unhappy, they’ve gone and moved their High Court!

Seeking answers

While the festival was in full swing, many attendees were confused. Where’s this film? Wasn’t it supposed to be screening here? And that one? Shouldn’t it be on now? As news spreads about a whole slew of titles being yanked, the festival organisers were embarrassed, while the deeply upset makers of the missing films – many of which were in competition for awards – were seen protesting with supporters at the venue, wearing black.

They demanded that the juries watch the excluded films. Jury members were themselves seeking answers. Film editor Irene Dhar Malik, Non-Fiction Jury member, recalls, “We were constantly talking to the Festival authorities, asking them if there was any way we could get these films screened.”  According to her, the festival authorities kept telling the jury that they were fighting the legal fight. “They said, ‘See, we don’t want to drop the screenings, but [censorship] is a Central subject’, she added.”

They were clear, she says, that going ahead with the screenings would cause problems not only for the festival, but create obstacles for the filmmakers when they applied for censor certificates later. The jury members, finding themselves in an ethical bind, strongly felt the need to take a stand.

“On the last day, we told them the non-fiction jury is not attending the awards ceremony. We don’t approve of what is happening, ”the jury members conveyed to the festival authorities. But the jury was told: “The Chief Minister is going to call these guys up on stage to acknowledge they were at the festival and we could not screen their films, [and] we don’t support the ban.”

And so the jury was present when the filmmakers were introduced to the audience and assured that their films would be screened publicly once they were legally cleared. The Kerala High Court has scheduled the matter for 13 November 2026.

Kolkata-based filmmaker Debalina Majumder, whose ‘Friends of Jilipibala’ won Best Short Documentary, and who was actively involved in the protests, says it was one of their demands that the filmmakers denied screenings be named and acknowledged.

She was part of the signature campaign for a statement opposing the competitions and awards unless all selected films were considered. When the ceremony went ahead, she used the opportunity to express solidarity with her fellow filmmakers and call out the imposition of censorship while receiving her award.

The eponymous Jilipibala of Debalina’s film is a child, facing the gradual erosion of nature in her urban neighbourhood built around a historic tamarind tree. Nothing there to draw the censor’s ire, you’d think, but Debalina is no stranger to formal and informal clampdowns on her other films, which have explored queer and trans lives, and the fallout of communal violence.

When it isn’t MIB, it’s been threats by goons on campuses. In her acceptance

speech she also spoke of the recent horrific right wing assaults on students of SRFTI,

Kolkata’s film school, implicitly linking the attacks on filmmaking and on filmmakers to the same political ecosystem.

Intense scrutiny

Will today’s “safe” subject remain safe tomorrow? Can we discern any pattern or logic in what causes MIB unease? In an article for The Wire, film scholar Ashish Rajadhyaksha wonders, “Can the illegitimacy of state censorship be further compounded by the incomprehensibility of its actions?”

“A lot of countries face this,” says Bina. “You cannot show a film in Singapore, in the Middle East, without [scrutiny] – the world has become a bit like that.” Irene comments with irony, “Of course, they’re trying to ban political films, but they’re not doing a proper job of [even that]…the film that got the top award for Long

Documentary – that’s an extremely political film. They didn’t understand! ”

She’s referring to Close Up Up Close – The Making of Political UBU by Kamal KM, about a theatre company adapting Ubu Roi, an 1896 French play satirising a ruler’s greed for power, for the contemporary Indian stage.

If MIB is merely reading synopses, they (in the form of our imagined bureaucrat) could well have thought it was just an innocuous film about a play.

Bina, however, thinks MIB probably cross-checks film titles and filmmakers online. It is so easy nowadays to pop a film’s title into your search bar and find out what an anodyne synopsis may have downplayed for strategic reasons. Debalina has even heard rumours of a hardline committee that sniffs out “problem” films (and filmmakers!), which may explain why, when a review is sought, other Ministries like Home or External Affairs suddenly find the film sitting on their laps.

Just the country of origin may be enough to set off alarms. Of the 31 films initially refused exemption at IDSFFK, one was ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’, in which the Iranian director is in conversation throughout with a Palestinian photojournalist, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza a day after the film was selected for Cannes (where it received a brilliant reception).

Festival attendees here were dismayed that they would not get to watch it, but fortunately it was one of the 23 films abruptly cleared, and screened, before the festival ended.

The films that were denied a screening

The remaining films, all but one set in India, continue to languish in limbo. Only one, ‘In Search of Buddha’ by Sharanya Dey, is fiction; the tile references “The” Buddha as well as a forgotten Naxal-era leader of that name.

‘Parliament Street’ by Spandan Banerjee explores personal and public memories of this part of Delhi through the closing down of People Tree, a popular alternative bookstore.

‘Sanitised Republic: Cast(e) & Contracts’ by Afiya Khalid and Rizwan Rahman focuses on labour conditions and caste dynamics among contract sanitation workers who worked through Covid-19 in Delhi, only to lose their jobs.

‘Redlight to Limelight’ by Babuljit Basu looks at how sex workers and their children in Kolkata’s Kalighat enjoy creating stories and making videos.

‘The Mali and the Parasite’ by Sankara follows an indigenous people’s resistance movement against corporate bauxite mining in Odisha.

‘Simmering Odyssey’ observes local communities rebuilding destroyed schools in conflict- affected areas of Bastar.

‘Far From Home’ by Kristi Tethong seeks to archive the filmmaker’s parents’ memories of Tibet, and of a settlement they built in South India.

‘Our Land’, by Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel, was the only cancelled film with no India connection – it retraces the murder of an indigenous leader and the ensuing trial, in the context of long-term settler colonialism and land dispossession.

Were these films deemed too “politically sensitive?”? What makes certain subjects taboo? Or to pose a better question: why do certain subjects scare the current dispensation?

Filmmakers may draw a bit of cold comfort from all this fear in the echelons of power, a fear that appears to validate the power of cinema, and art in general, to change the world – one shot, one work, one subversion and, not least, one real world protest at a time.

———-

Smriti Nevatia has been a curator, selector and jury member for a number of Indian and international film festivals and has collaborated on many documentary film projects. She is co-author of ‘No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy’ (Zubaan, 2015), and freelances as a text editor and translator between Hindi and English. 

Courtesy: freespeechcollective.in

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]]> Delhi High Court rejects AISA president Neha Bora’s plea against peace-bond notice, directs police to disclose material https://sabrangindia.in/delhi-high-court-rejects-aisa-president-neha-boras-plea-against-peace-bond-notice-directs-police-to-disclose-material/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:27:41 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49784 Justice Subramonium Prasad upholds preventive proceedings over Bora’s October 16 protest, but directs the Special Executive Magistrate to follow due process and independently decide whether an interim bond is necessary

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]]> The Delhi High Court on October 23 dismissed a petition filed by All India Students’ Association (AISA) national president Neha Bora challenging a show-cause notice requiring her to explain why she should not furnish a personal bond of ₹10,000, along with one surety for the same amount, to maintain peace during an inquiry. The notice followed her detention by Delhi Police at Mandi House on October 16, amid protests against the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, as well as opposition to the de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a protest site.

Justice Subramonium Prasad held that there was sufficient material before the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) to initiate preventive proceedings under Sections 126 and 130 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. The court, however, did not determine whether Bora had ultimately breached the law or whether she must furnish a bond. It directed the State to disclose all material relied upon in the proceedings and required the SEM to follow the principles of natural justice and independently decide whether an interim bond was necessary.

From a call to gather at Mandi House to preventive proceedings

Bora, who is also described in the judgment as a social activist, had posted an invitation on Instagram on October 16, calling people to assemble at Mandi House at 5 pm. Her post stated: “Jantar Mantar is not a site that you can denotify, it’s a symbol of our resistance! Today, all of Central Delhi has become Jantar Mantar!”

The judgment records that Bora was detained by Delhi Police at around 5:30 pm that day and released on October 17. The notice initiating preventive proceedings was issued on October 17 by Mahesh Kumar Meena, the SEM for New Delhi district. It called upon her to appear and show cause why she should not execute a personal bond of ₹10,000 with one surety for the same amount under Section 135(3) of the BNSS.

The notice alleged that Bora had created a nuisance by shouting slogans at the Mandi House roundabout, repeatedly participated in protest-related activity around Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS, and instigated people to join an unauthorised demonstration at Central Park in Connaught Place. It also alleged that she had called for the national flag to be hoisted without obtaining permission and that there was a likelihood of a breach of public peace and tranquillity.

The notice stated that she might commit a breach of peace or a wrongful act likely to disturb public tranquillity within the SEM’s jurisdiction. It invoked Sections 126 and 130 of the BNSS to initiate proceedings and required her to appear on October 19. The judgment noted that Bora sought exemption from personal appearance on health grounds on October 19 and was subsequently directed to appear before the SEM on October 24.

Bora challenged the notice as mechanical and based on hearsay

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Bora, argued that the notice did not satisfy the legal requirements of Section 126 of the BNSS and merely reproduced the language of the statutory provision. He submitted that the SEM was required to examine the information received, make an independent assessment of whether it disclosed a likelihood of breach of peace, and record the basis for initiating proceedings.

The challenge also questioned the reliance placed on the police kalandara, the report submitted to initiate preventive proceedings. Bora’s counsel argued that the SEM had acted on the report and the directions of senior police officers rather than forming an independent opinion. He pointed to the SEM’s order of October 17, which recorded that the kalandara had been submitted by Sub-Inspector Vaishali Tushir and that the notice should be issued after its inspection.

The petition also contested the claim that Mandi House was covered by a prohibitory order. Counsel relied on an order dated August 23, 2026, issued by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Parliament Street subdivision, to argue that the location where Bora had called for a gathering was not within the area covered by restrictions under Section 163 of the BNSS.

Another central argument was that the information cited in the notice was hearsay and did not provide a sufficient factual basis for proceedings that could affect Bora’s liberty. Counsel maintained that a peaceful protest could not, by itself, justify preventive action and disputed the allegation that Bora had urged people to gather at Central Park, Connaught Place, where another group had called for a protest.

The petition also raised the question of whether the SEM could initiate proceedings on the material placed by police without conducting the inquiry required by law. Counsel argued that the statutory safeguards were particularly important because failure to furnish an interim bond could have consequences for personal liberty.

State relied on prohibitory orders, police records and previous cases

Opposing the petition, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma argued that Section 126 of the BNSS allows an Executive Magistrate to initiate proceedings when information indicates that a person is likely to breach the peace or disturb public tranquillity and the Magistrate considers there to be sufficient grounds to proceed.

The State maintained that the SEM had relied not merely on an allegation or hearsay, but on the kalandara dated October 17 and supporting material. It argued that the SEM had considered the report and heard the investigating officer before forming an opinion. Sharma further submitted that the assessment at this stage was a matter of the SEM’s subjective satisfaction and that the High Court should not substitute its own assessment for that of the authority conducting the inquiry.

The State also argued that the petition was premature. Under the statutory scheme, it said, the person receiving the notice would have an opportunity to appear, contest the information and participate in the inquiry. If the allegations were not substantiated, the person could be discharged under Section 137 of the BNSS and would not be required to furnish a bond, or any bond already furnished could be discharged. The State submitted that the law provided remedies at subsequent stages and that the High Court should not interrupt the proceedings merely because a show-cause notice had been issued.

On the question of the restrictions in force at Mandi House, the State relied on a prohibitory order dated August 24, 2026, issued under Section 163 of the BNSS by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Barakhamba Road subdivision. According to the State, the order covered the jurisdictions of Barakhamba Road and Tilak Marg police stations, including Mandi House.

The police kalandara alleged that Bora arrived at the Mandi House roundabout at around 5:10 pm with approximately 40 to 50 protesters and began moving towards Barakhamba Road while raising slogans. It claimed that police repeatedly announced over a loudspeaker that Section 163 was in force and that gatherings of five or more people, demonstrations, processions and dharnas were prohibited in the area. The report alleged that Bora continued moving forward and raising slogans, including “Reclaim Jantar Mantar”, “Gyanesh Kumar, resign” and “We do not accept any Section 163 BNSS, nor do we accept any such law”, before police stopped the group after considerable effort.

The kalandara also alleged that Bora had repeatedly participated in demonstrations around Jantar Mantar despite prohibitory orders, had encouraged people through her language and social-media posts to violate the law, and had called upon supporters and members of the Cockroach  (CJP) to gather at Connaught Place and hoist the national flag without permission.

The police report sought to justify the restrictions by referring to Connaught Place’s commercial character, traffic movement, the presence of banks, offices, hotels, showrooms and vendors, the high footfall at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, and the potential for crowding to obstruct emergency services. It also referred to the area’s proximity to Parliament and the Central Secretariat and argued that a gathering could affect public safety, traffic and livelihoods.

The report further alleged that previous events involving AISA and CJP had seen violence and property damage, that Bora had previously been detained under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, 1978, and that several FIRs had been registered against her. It claimed that she might again attempt to gather people at prohibited locations and provoke demonstrations, creating a risk to public and government property.

The police report stated that the matter had been brought to the attention of senior officers and that preventive action had been considered necessary on their directions. This aspect was significant to Bora’s challenge, which argued that the proceedings reflected a command from senior officers rather than an independent decision by the SEM.

Court found material for initiating proceedings, but did not decide the allegations finally

After examining the record, the High Court noted that the material placed before the SEM included three General Diary entries relating to different incidents and dates, the kalandara dated October 17, and information relating to six FIRs registered at Parliament Street, Barakhamba Road and Connaught Place police stations. The record also included information under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act.

The judgment identifies General Diary entry No. 19A dated October 17, relating to information under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act; entry No. 20A dated October 17, recorded at Barakhamba Road police station under Sections 126 and 169 of the BNSS; and entry No. 111A dated September 25, recorded at Parliament Street police station in relation to Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act.

The court also recorded that three witnesses had been examined in connection with the material, including Sub-Inspector Vaishali Tushir. It concluded that the SEM had considered the kalandara, the General Diary entries and the accompanying material before initiating proceedings.

Importantly, the High Court said it would not rely on additional video material handed over by the State because it was unclear whether those videos had been placed before the SEM when the decision to initiate proceedings was made. The court confined its assessment to the material that could be shown to have been before the Magistrate.

The court rejected the argument that the notice was based on no material or merely on hearsay. It held that the notice had identified the alleged conduct at Mandi House and the alleged attempt to mobilise people for a demonstration at Central Park, Connaught Place. It also noted that the prohibitory order dated August 24 covered Mandi House, rejecting Bora’s argument that the location fell outside the restrictions.

The court distinguished the present case from Sumitra Dhal v. State of Odisha, in which the notice had not disclosed even a summary of the information or incidents said to justify apprehension of a breach of peace. It also distinguished Anuj Suhag v. State (NCT of Delhi), where the proceedings were based on a single incident, noting that the material in Bora’s case included multiple General Diary entries, FIRs and the prohibitory orders.

The High Court held that a notice under Sections 126 and 130 of the BNSS need not read like a judicial judgment. It must convey the substance of the information received and the reasons for the Magistrate’s opinion. It also accepted that the two statutory requirements could be conveyed through a composite notice rather than separate documents, relying on the Bombay High Court Full Bench ruling in Farhan Nasir Khan v. State of Maharashtra.

The court’s conclusion was that the material was sufficient to cross the threshold for issuing a show-cause notice. It expressly refrained from deciding the truth of the allegations or whether the SEM’s assessment would ultimately justify requiring Bora to furnish a bond.

Preventive proceedings are not punishment, court says

A substantial part of the judgment examines the purpose and limits of preventive proceedings under Chapter IX of the BNSS, which deals with security for keeping the peace and good behaviour. The court reiterated that proceedings under these provisions are preventive rather than punitive. Their purpose is to avert a possible breach of peace, not to punish a person for an offence already committed. Under Section 126, an Executive Magistrate may require a person to show cause why a bond should not be ordered if information indicates that the person is likely to breach the peace or disturb public tranquillity and the Magistrate considers there to be sufficient grounds to proceed. The period of a bond under that provision cannot exceed one year.

The court held that, at the stage of a challenge to a show-cause notice, the High Court’s inquiry is generally limited to whether there was material before the SEM and whether the SEM applied his mind to it. The writ court should not ordinarily replace the Magistrate’s assessment with its own, unless the case involves a complete absence of material or an exceptional ground for interference.

For this proposition, the judgment relied on Supreme Court rulings including Special Director v. Mohd. Ghulam Ghoushe, Union of India v. Vicco Laboratories and J. Sri Nisha v. Special Director, Adjudicating Authority, Directorate of Enforcement. These decisions recognise that show-cause notices should not routinely be quashed before the authority has had an opportunity to conduct the prescribed proceedings, while also acknowledging exceptions where a notice is without jurisdiction, reflects non-application of mind, is pre-determined, constitutes an abuse of process or violates natural justice.

The court observed that preventive action may be based on the circumstances and nature of the alleged conduct rather than the number of incidents alone. It said even a single incident may, in appropriate circumstances, support apprehension of a future breach of peace. In Bora’s case, however, the court relied on its view that the record contained multiple entries and other material, rather than a solitary allegation.

The judgment also stated that the SEM was not required to conduct a full fact-finding investigation before issuing the notice. The court considered the initial examination of the information and the recording of the three witnesses sufficient to meet the threshold for initiating proceedings. It did not, however, dispense with the requirement of a proper inquiry before any final decision or interim order affecting Bora’s liberty.

Court emphasises safeguards under Madhu Limaye

The court devoted particular attention to the Supreme Court’s five-judge Bench decision in Madhu Limaye v. Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Monghyr, which stresses that preventive powers must be exercised with care because personal liberty is at stake. The Supreme Court had held that a Magistrate cannot demand an interim bond or place a person in jeopardy of detention without making the inquiry required by law into the truth of the information. The safeguards governing preventive proceedings must be strictly followed, and reasons must be recorded in writing. The power is judicial in character and cannot be exercised as a purely administrative measure.

The State relied on other passages in Madhu Limaye recognising that preventive provisions are intended to address reasonable apprehensions of conduct likely to disturb public peace. The Delhi High Court concluded that the principles laid down in that decision had not been violated at the stage then before it, but made clear that the SEM must continue to comply with those safeguards in the later proceedings.

Police directed to disclose all material; bond cannot be automatic

Despite dismissing Bora’s petition, the High Court issued specific directions to safeguard her rights during the inquiry. First, the State must provide Bora with all the material on which it intends to rely when she appears before the SEM. The court directed that the principles of natural justice must be followed before any order requiring her to furnish a bond is passed.

Second, the court specifically addressed Section 135(3) of the BNSS, which permits an interim bond during the pendency of an inquiry in circumstances where the statutory requirements are met. It left the question of whether to insist on a bond at the first instance to the SEM, emphasising that the provision concerns an apprehension of breach of peace or disturbance of public tranquillity arising after the inquiry has commenced and before it is completed. The SEM must therefore independently apply his mind to the material and decide whether an interim bond is necessary. The court directed him to take into account the safeguards laid down in Madhu Limaye and the Delhi High Court’s decision in Aldanish Rein v. State (NCT of Delhi).

Third, the court made clear that Bora would retain the right to pursue remedies at subsequent stages of the proceedings, including after a final order is passed at the conclusion of the inquiry. Its observations were expressly limited to the question of whether the High Court should interfere under Article 226 of the Constitution at the stage when only a show-cause notice had been issued. The writ petition was dismissed along with any pending applications.

The ruling leaves the preventive proceedings against Bora to continue before the SEM. It upholds the initiation of those proceedings, but leaves the substantive questions, including whether the allegations warrant a bond and whether an interim bond is necessary, for independent determination in accordance with the law.

The complete judgment may be read below:

Download PDF

 

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]]> 7,000 farmers and workers rally in Maharashtra as drought deepens agrarian crisis https://sabrangindia.in/7000-farmers-and-workers-rally-in-maharashtra-as-drought-deepens-agrarian-crisis/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 10:55:25 +0000 https://sabrangindia.in/?p=49780 With 265 of Maharashtra’s 358 talukas declared drought-affected, protesters in Akole demand immediate crop-loss compensation, insurance payouts and loan waivers

The post 7,000 farmers and workers rally in Maharashtra as drought deepens agrarian crisis appeared first on SabrangIndia.

]]> Around 7,000 farmers, agricultural workers and women took to the streets of Akole in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar district on October 22, demanding immediate relief as a severe drought pushes farming communities towards mounting losses and financial distress. Led by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the rally marched through the town to the Tehsil office, where protesters submitted a memorandum alongside thousands of individual applications from farmers and other residents.

Carrying red and white flags and raising militant slogans, the protesters demanded substantial drought relief, immediate disbursal of crop insurance compensation, a ₹2 lakh loan waiver for farmers who have regularly repaid their loans, land titles for people cultivating forest and other lands, and the resumption of financial assistance to beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna scheme.

The rally followed an ongoing round-the-clock sit-in Satyagraha in Akole, with organisers announcing that the agitation would continue until October 26. Addressing the gathering, senior leader Brinda Karat, AIKS National President Ashok Dhawale and AIKS National Joint Secretary Ajit Nawale criticised the Maharashtra government’s handling of the agrarian crisis. They condemned the ₹5,000 drought relief announced for farmers as grossly inadequate in the face of widespread crop damage and escalating debt, while also pointing to the withholding of ₹4,000 payable under the Namo Kisan Nidhi scheme.

The Kisan Sabha leadership warned that if the state government failed to take concrete decisions on the demands, hundreds of vehicles carrying farmers from across Maharashtra would set out from Akole for Mumbai to press the government for action.

The protest comes as the scale of Maharashtra’s drought becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. The state has declared 265 of its 358 talukas drought-affected, covering nearly three-quarters of its administrative subdivisions. Yet, despite announcing a series of concessions, the government has left direct crop-loss compensation dependent on field assessments, prolonging uncertainty for farmers who are already watching their harvests fail.

Drought declared, but direct compensation remains uncertain

A September 25, 2026, government resolution issued by Maharashtra’s Relief and Rehabilitation Department directed district administrations to assess crop damage in the drought-affected talukas. Collectors have been instructed to conduct field inspections, prepare panchnamas, document crop conditions through photographs and GPS-tagged records, and submit their findings to the state government. The declaration covers extensive parts of Marathwada and Vidarbha, alongside drought-hit areas in northern and western Maharashtra. Among the districts affected are Beed, Latur, Dharashiv, Nanded, Parbhani and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Marathwada, and Yavatmal, Amravati, Akola, Wardha, Nagpur and Chandrapur in Vidarbha.

As reported by The Indian Express, Maharashtra’s overall monsoon rainfall deficit has obscured the severity of the crisis in its most vulnerable agricultural regions. While the state recorded a deficit of around 18% between June 1 and September 25, some districts experienced far more severe shortfalls. Solapur recorded a 57% deficit, followed by Beed at 49%, Hingoli at 48%, Jalna at 46%, Dharashiv at 45% and Akola at 41%.

The consequences have been particularly severe in Marathwada, where prolonged gaps between rainfall have deprived rain-fed crops of the soil moisture needed to survive. Agriculture department estimates reported in the media indicated that at least a quarter of standing crops in the region had been damaged following a dry spell lasting approximately 45 days.

The government has announced concessions in land revenue, restructuring of crop loans, suspension of the recovery of agriculture-related loans, electricity-bill relief for agricultural pumps, examination-fee waivers for students and expanded employment under the Employment Guarantee Scheme. It has also provided for tanker-based drinking-water supplies where necessary, fodder arrangements for livestock and water-conservation works.

However, these measures do not amount to direct compensation for the crops already destroyed. The government resolution states that financial assistance for drought-affected farmers will be announced separately after the prescribed assessments are completed. According to a PTI report, Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has also said that the actual assistance would be determined after ground-level assessments. For farmers confronting immediate losses, the concern is critical. Loan restructuring does not replace a failed harvest, and electricity concessions cannot compensate for crops that have withered in the fields. The demand for immediate financial relief has therefore become central to the agitation in Akole.

From failing soybean crops to dying orchards

The drought is damaging both seasonal crops and plantations that take years to establish. Soybean, cotton and maize have suffered extensive losses, while fruit growers are struggling to secure enough water to keep trees and vines alive. In an October 5 report, Mid-Day report described the devastation in Yevta village in Beed district, where farmer Sheikh Rashid’s four-acre soybean crop was drying up after prolonged water shortages. Rashid told IANS that farmers had anticipated a good harvest but had suffered significant losses because of the lack of rainfall.

The damage extends well beyond a single season’s produce. In a report published on October 12, India Today documented the growing crisis among Maharashtra’s horticultural farmers, with grapevines, orange trees, pomegranate plantations, banana crops and mango orchards all facing water stress. The report highlighted the threat to vineyards in the Nashik region, where October is a crucial period for pruning and preparing vines for the next harvest. Kailas Bhosale, president of the Maharashtra Grape Growers’ Association, told Kisan Tak that farmers could not carry out normal vineyard operations without water. He called for emergency intervention, including tanker supplies, to prevent the vines from dying.

The difference between losing a harvest and losing a plantation is devastating. According to India Today, growers could face a wait of at least four years before newly planted grapevines begin yielding commercially. Farmers who have invested years of labour and substantial sums in their orchards risk losing not merely their current income but the foundation of their future livelihoods.

The crisis has also reached Maharashtra’s orange-growing belt. The Times of India reported on October 8 that orange orchards across an estimated 5,000 hectares in Amravati had suffered extensive damage, with trees being cut down and surviving orchards struggling with flowering, fruit development and fruit size.

The state’s fruit economy is particularly vulnerable because Maharashtra is a major producer of grapes, pomegranates and bananas, with horticultural output supporting agricultural households, traders, exporters and workers across supply chains. The destruction of perennial crops threatens to leave farmers without income for several seasons, even after rainfall returns.

Water scarcity is becoming a crisis of survival

As local wells and other water sources dry up, farmers are increasingly being forced to purchase water simply to keep their crops and livestock alive.

India Today report described the mounting costs faced by drought-hit growers. In Shahapur in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, farmer Badrinath Bharat told The Indian Express that he was spending ₹3,000 a day on two water tankers after his well dried up. Having already lost his cotton and maize crops, he was buying water to protect his ginger crop and provide for his family and ten cattle.

The burden is particularly punishing for small and marginal farmers, who have limited financial reserves to absorb repeated crop failures or sustain expensive irrigation through prolonged dry spells. Purchasing water can become an additional debt even when there is little certainty that the surviving crop will generate enough income to recover the cost.

The shortage is also threatening the coming rabi season. As reported by The Indian Express, the depleted soil moisture and declining reserves in reservoirs and borewells could discourage farmers from sowing crops such as chickpea and jowar. A drought that has already devastated the kharif harvest could therefore compromise the next agricultural cycle as well.

Scientists have warned that the timing and distribution of rainfall matter as much as the overall deficit. Karthikeyan Lanka, associate professor at IIT Bombay’s Centre for Climate Studies, told Down To Earth that the monsoon had been characterised by repeated swings between wet and dry conditions. Sporadic heavy rainfall may briefly replenish soil moisture, but prolonged dry spells allow that moisture to dissipate through evaporation and plant transpiration.

The India Drought Monitor, maintained by IIT Gandhinagar, indicated that around 84% of Maharashtra’s area was under dry or drought conditions as of September 23. The figures underline how widely the crisis has spread, even though the extent of agricultural damage varies by region.

Government relief under pressure as farmers demand accountability

The Maharashtra government’s drought declaration has formally recognised the crisis, but farmers’ organisations argue that recognition without timely and adequate assistance will do little to prevent mounting indebtedness and the destruction of rural livelihoods. The state’s response has included loan restructuring, revenue concessions and other administrative relief, while direct compensation remains contingent on assessments. Meanwhile, farmers are facing immediate expenses for water, livestock fodder, agricultural inputs and household needs, often without the income expected from their crops.

The growing pressure has also reached the Union government. India Today reported that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to seek financial assistance through the National Disaster Response Fund. An inter-ministerial team subsequently visited Maharashtra between October 8 and 11 to assess crop losses and relief requirements, according to The New Indian Express.

But for the farmers gathered in Akole, the central question remains whether these assessments will translate into timely assistance on the ground. Their demands extend beyond the immediate drought declaration to include crop insurance payments, a loan waiver for farmers who have regularly repaid their loans, land rights for cultivators and the restoration of financial assistance to Ladli Behna beneficiaries. With the sit-in scheduled to continue until October 26, the Kisan Sabha leadership has made clear that it is prepared to escalate the agitation to Mumbai if the government fails to act.   

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