SIR row: 42 former judges warn against undermining ECI in open letter
Synopsis
In a rare judicial intervention, 42 former judges — including ex-Supreme Court justices — have publicly rebuked campaigns to delegitimise the Election Commission, warning that branding constitutional bodies as ‘compromised’ without evidence is denigration, not criticism. The letter lands as the Opposition’s anti-CEC protests intensify and the BJP escalates its counter-offensive.
Key Takeaways
42 former judges , including ex- Supreme Court Justices Hemant Gupta and Pankaj Mittal , issued an open letter on 8 October 2026 defending the Election Commission of India .
The letter defends the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a legally established, legitimate exercise.
Signatories include three former High Court Chief Justices : B.C.
Patel , Subhro Kamal Mukherjee , and Permod Kohli .
BJP national president Nitin Nabin challenged Rahul Gandhi to resign from his seat if he lacks confidence in the ECI.
Rahul Gandhi , Priyanka Gandhi Vadra , and other INDIA bloc MPs were detained by Delhi Police near Janpath on Wednesday while marching towards Jantar Mantar against CEC Gyanesh Kumar .
Forty-two former judges, including former justices of the Supreme Court and several High Courts, on Thursday, 8 October 2026, issued a strongly worded open letter expressing grave concern over what they described as a sustained campaign to delegitimise the Election Commission of India (ECI), the judiciary, and other constitutional institutions. The letter comes amid mounting political controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
What the Letter Says
The signatories took sharp exception to allegations of “vote theft” being levelled without supporting evidence, warning that repeatedly branding constitutional authorities as ‘thieves’ and ‘compromised’ risks corroding public trust in democratic institutions.
“Criticism of institutions is a democratic right. Denigration is not,” the letter stated. Among those who signed were former Supreme Court Justices Hemant Gupta and Pankaj Mittal.
The letter also defended the SIR as a legally established exercise aimed at ensuring clean and accurate voter rolls. “Trust is the currency of democracy,” the signatories warned, cautioning that attempts to delegitimise elections could fuel public unrest and embolden what they called “archaic elements.”
High Court Chief Justices Among Signatories
The letter carries the signatures of three former High Court Chief Justices: B.C. Patel, former Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi High Courts; Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, former Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court; and Permod Kohli, former Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court. Other signatories include former High Court judges and members of statutory bodies and regulators.
BJP Strikes Back at Opposition Protests
The open letter emerged on the same day that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Nitin Nabin launched a sharp attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over the Opposition’s ongoing protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
“I would say these are people with an anarchist mindset, who know only how to spread poison in society. After all, this very Election Commission conducted the elections in Kerala,” Nabin told reporters.
He added: “It also conducted the elections in Tamil Nadu, where they came to power. If he has the courage, Rahul Gandhi should first resign. The public is fully watching the game he is playing. This Leader of the Opposition is engaged in shielding infiltrators.”
How Wednesday’s Protest Unfolded
The BJP’s remarks followed a protest on Wednesday in which Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other INDIA bloc MPs attempted to march towards Jantar Mantar to demonstrate against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Delhi Police detained the group after a bus carrying them was intercepted near Janpath.
Nabin challenged the Opposition directly, saying: “They are trying to take away the rights of the people. We are trying to give them their rights back. I believe that people who belong here have the right to the country’s resources.”
What This Signals
The open letter from former members of the judiciary represents a rare and pointed intervention by the legal fraternity into an active political dispute. Notably, it arrives at a moment when Opposition pressure on the ECI has intensified, with successive protest marches and public statements questioning the credibility of electoral processes. The confrontation between the ruling coalition and the INDIA bloc over the SIR and the CEC’s conduct is unlikely to ease ahead of upcoming state elections.
Point of View
Procedural objections to the SIR or simply defends institutions in the abstract. The deeper question — whether the SIR process has adequate safeguards against legitimate voter deletions — remains unanswered. Meanwhile, the BJP’s framing of the protests as ‘anarchist’ and the detention of MPs escalates a confrontation that, without institutional de-escalation, risks hardening into a sustained crisis of electoral legitimacy ahead of state polls.
NationPress
8 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the SIR row that prompted the former judges’ open letter?
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is an Election Commission of India exercise to update and clean up electoral rolls. Opposition parties, led by the INDIA bloc, have alleged that the process is being misused to disenfranchise voters, prompting protests and accusations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The 42 former judges defended the SIR as a legally established and legitimate procedure.
Who signed the open letter against attacks on the Election Commission?
The letter was signed by 42 former judges, including former Supreme Court Justices Hemant Gupta and Pankaj Mittal, and three former High Court Chief Justices — B.C. Patel (J&K and Delhi), Subhro Kamal Mukherjee (Karnataka), and Permod Kohli (Sikkim). Other signatories include former High Court judges and members of statutory bodies.
Why were Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc MPs detained by Delhi Police?
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other INDIA bloc MPs were detained on Wednesday after a bus carrying them was stopped near Janpath as they attempted to march to Jantar Mantar to protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Delhi Police intervened before they could reach their destination.
What did BJP national president Nitin Nabin say about Rahul Gandhi’s protests?
Nitin Nabin called the protesters people with an ‘anarchist mindset’ and challenged Rahul Gandhi to resign from his Lok Sabha seat if he has no confidence in the Election Commission, noting that the same ECI conducted elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu that the Opposition won. He also accused Gandhi of shielding infiltrators.
What is the broader significance of former judges issuing this letter?
Public interventions by former judges in active political disputes are rare in India. The letter signals that a section of the legal fraternity considers the current campaign against the ECI and judiciary to have crossed from legitimate criticism into institutional denigration. Critics, however, may argue the letter does not address procedural concerns raised about the SIR process itself.
