Former Punjab Bureaucrat writes open letter to EC Commissioners, seeks full commission meeting on SIR objections
Babushahi Bureau
Patiala (Punjab), September 23, 2026: Former Punjab Special Chief Secretary KBS Sidhu has written an open letter to Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, urging them to convene a meeting of the full Election Commission of India (ECI) and place their reported objections over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls before the three-member panel.
Sidhu, an IAS officer who served in various election-related positions during his 37-year career, including as District Election Officer and Returning Officer in Amritsar, said the two Election Commissioners could seek a formal decision of the full Commission wherever they believed that decisions required reconsideration.
His letter follows a report by The Indian Express published on September 23, which said Sandhu and Joshi had recorded at least 14 objections over a period of 10 months concerning decisions related to electoral-roll management. The reported concerns included changes to Form 6, access to the electoral-roll database, appeals relating to voters in West Bengal and software-related issues affecting restoration of voters in Goa.
Sidhu argued that the Election Commission functions as a three-member body and that, where consensus is not possible, decisions can be taken by majority.
“The Commission is three persons, and two of them are you,” Sidhu said in his letter, referring to Sandhu and Joshi.
He cited the Supreme Court’s 1995 judgment in T.N. Seshan, Chief Election Commissioner of India v. Union of India, which upheld the multi-member structure of the Election Commission and recognised decision-making by majority.
Concerns Over Form 6 and Electoral Database
One of the issues highlighted in the letter was the reported addition of a question to Form 6, the application used by citizens seeking registration as voters.
According to The Indian Express report, the new section asked applicants to indicate whether their own name, or that of a parent or grandparent, appeared in the electoral roll of the last SIR. The report said both Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections to the change, with the two commissioners questioning its legal basis.
Sidhu said the requirement could create an additional hurdle for first-time voters and argued that voter registration should be governed by the conditions laid down under Article 326 of the Constitution and applicable election laws.
He also referred to concerns reportedly raised by the two commissioners over restrictions on Electoral Registration Officers’ access to the electoral-roll database.
The Indian Express reported that the commissioners had questioned the centralisation of control over the electoral-roll technology system and raised concerns about its effect on statutory officers responsible for electoral rolls.
West Bengal and Goa Issues Also Raised
Sidhu’s letter also referred to reported concerns over appeals filed in West Bengal against decisions restoring voters to electoral rolls.
The Indian Express investigation said Sandhu had questioned who authorised such appeals and on whose behalf they were filed. It also reported a separate issue in Goa involving 97 voters who were found eligible by Electoral Registration Officers but could not be restored because of limitations in the software system.
Sidhu urged the Election Commissioners to seek formal resolutions on these issues rather than limiting their concerns to notes recorded on official files.
Sidhu’s Five Requests
In his letter, Sidhu asked Sandhu and Joshi to seek a meeting of the full Commission and consider five measures:
- Withdrawal of the Form 6 question until the relevant rules are lawfully amended.
- Restoration of complete ERONet access to Electoral Registration Officers, along with an independent audit.
- Disclosure of the authority behind the West Bengal appeals and withdrawal of any appeals not sanctioned by the Commission.
- Changes to the software to ensure that Electoral Registration Officers can record decisions restoring eligible voters.
- An affirmation that an elector should not be deleted, or an applicant denied registration, solely because of the absence of a link to an earlier electoral roll when the applicable constitutional conditions are otherwise satisfied.
Sidhu also asked that any resolutions passed by the Commission, along with dissenting views, be made public.
Election Commission Says Decisions Were Unanimous
The Election Commission has, however, disputed the suggestion that the reported objections represented a split in its final decision-making.
Following the Indian Express report, ECI officials said on September 23 that all decisions of the Commission, including those concerning the SIR exercise, had been taken unanimously and with the approval of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and both Election Commissioners.
The clarification came after reports that Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections on several issues during the past 10 months. According to ECI officials, the two commissioners had raised concerns over aspects of electoral-roll management, but those concerns did not alter the Commission’s final decisions.
Sidhu concluded his open letter by asking the two Election Commissioners to place their position before the full Commission and make the outcome public.