The Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant any ex-parte interim order suspending Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said it must first hear the Election Commission before acting.

The bench, which also included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, issued notice to the Union government, the Election Commission of India, Kumar, the two Election Commissioners, the Deputy Election Commissioner and the Director-General of Information Technology.

The petitions allege that decisions linked to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls were taken unilaterally by Kumar, without the concurrence of the two other Election Commissioners. They cite Section 18 of the CEC Act, 2023, which requires commission decisions to be unanimous or by majority.

The CJI said that if the record shows decisions were taken without the required unanimity, the court could revisit them. The bench also clarified that the Supreme Court had not approved any modified version of Form 6.

The petitioners, Rakesh Kumar Singh and Shailendra Mani Tripathi, had sought interim suspension of the CEC. Senior advocate Vikas Singh urged urgent relief, saying voters were feeling unsafe about their voting rights.