This came two days after The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections against decisions taken in the commission’s name. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi unanimously approved every order issued for the revision of electoral rolls, sources in the poll body said on Friday.
Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have not spoken publicly about the objections attributed to them, though the EC has not denied such objections but only said that the final decisions were all unanimous as per the record.
These were Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana, Uttarakhand, union territories of Delhi, Chandigarh, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Because the state falls under unique provisions of India’s Citizenship Act, unlike the other states, Assam underwent a Special Revision of its rolls rather than SIR. Section 21(3) empowers the Commission to direct a special revision of the electoral roll at any time. Form 6, the application form for enrolling new voters, is one of the major flashpoints of the row. Earlier reporting noted: The approved SIR orders include a Declaration Form to be submitted along with Form 6 for the inclusion of new voters, a step aimed at reducing paperwork and easing the registration process for citizens. The second phases included 12 states and union territories – Andaman & Nicobar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The third phase, announced in May this year, covered 16 states and three union territories.
“Both the Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner have unanimously approved the SIR [Special Intensive Revision] orders for Bihar, SR [Special Revision] orders of Assam, SIR orders for 12 states and UTs, and then SIR orders for 19 States/UTs,” the sources said. The sources said the approved orders include a Declaration Form to be submitted along with Form 6 by new voters, “to reduce paperwork and for the ease of citizens”. They said this was “in line with Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950”, and “has also been upheld by the Supreme Court”. A petition in the Supreme Court alleges that a condition requiring first-time voters to establish a link to the last SIR was introduced without legislative authority, and was branded “unauthorised and illegal” by a majority of the commissioners. Sandhu and Joshi have not spoken publicly about the objections attributed to them, though the EC has not denied such objections but only said that the final decisions were all unanimous as per the record. Earlier reporting noted: “All actions of ECI have been in accordance with laws and instructions of the Commission,” the poll body said in a statement.
Earlier reporting noted: The SIR process has been conducted in three phrases across the country so far – starting with Bihar in the first phase.
Commission Defends Decisions Amid Objections
On September 23, the commission responded to a report by IE, which revealed that two commissioners had raised objections on at least 14 occasions between November 2025 and August 2026. In a statement issued by a deputy director-level official, the commission emphasized that all its orders and decisions are legally valid. It noted that differing opinions are a standard aspect of discussions within any organization.
The commission clarified that the suggestions made by the commissioners were intended to enhance electoral processes and reaffirmed that all final decisions, including those regarding the SIR, were reached unanimously by the full commission.
