Mahadevan

The Election Commission’s affidavit filed in the Supreme Court last evening is deceptive, deceitful and duplicitous. It is also extremely damaging—to itself. 1. Illegal amendment of Form 6: The ECI has engaged in patent deception and word games on this point. First, it claimed that the new declaration attached to Form 6 was upheld by the Supreme Court, which the Court subsequently contradicted. Second, it now claims that the new declaration form is separate, and Form 6 was not amended. But this is a deception - Form 6 could not be submitted online without filling this mandatory declaration. Third, the ECI’s own stand keeps changing: on 26 Sep, 2026 it said this declaration was attached to Form 6. It now says it is not a part of Form 6. The ECI cannot cover up its blatant violation of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. 2. Unilateral decisions by CEC: The ECI has shifted the goalposts by claiming the major SIR orders were formally approved by all three Election Commissioners. But the two ECs objected on record to grave violations and illegal actions taking place on the orders of the CEC – their objections were disregarded. The ECs were not even informed and learnt of these decisions from the news. This is not unanimity but unilateral decision-making. 3. Illegal centralisation by ECINET: The use of ECINET to centralise control over electoral rolls and override the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), who are the statutory authority, was put on file by the 2 ECs. Evidence of EROs being overruled has come from nearly every SIR state: Goa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to name a few. 4. The rogue IT division: The ECs repeatedly expressed concern that the IT division operates opaquely, oversteps its mandate and takes unauthorised actions. They wrote to the Cabinet Secretary about their concerns on ECINET and the functioning of the IT division. Many more revelations about the mess around the IT division have emerged since. There has been no change in its operation, nor any action on these issues. 5. SIR disaster: Numerous illegalities and violations have emerged around the SIR process. In nearly every state, Form 7 has been misused for mass deletions. 6. No denial of revelations: The affidavit does not deny the veracity of the ongoing revelations in large sections of the media. This is another confirmation of the gross malpractice and legal violations by the CEC. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. And when we have done it for a while, it comes out in a crooked style.