‘When all else fails, people still repose their trust in the judiciary’: INDIA bloc leaders in letter to CJI

INDIA bloc leaders, alleging election manipulation, partisan behavior by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and misuse of central investigating agencies against Opposition parties, said in a joint memorandum addressed to the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, that they had taken the unusual step of reaching out to the CJI as they believed “democracy was at stake”.

The letter dated June 28 was announced to the media by the opposition on Friday, July 3, 2026. The document, signed by leaders of 24 Opposition parties, including independent MP Kapil Sibal, detailed concerns regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal and Bihar. The leaders also made a direct accusation, claiming that they believed the recent elections in Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra were “manipulated”. Leaders said they appealed to the court because they believed democratic institutions were under pressure and, in some cases, election results did not fully reflect the will of the people.

Describing the EC’s behavior from 2014 onwards, Opposition parties said there were almost no examples before 2014, with a few exceptions where questions were raised about the integrity of people in the Commission. “However, since 2014, almost every appointment made by the government has been made up of people closely associated with it and appears to have brazenly carried out the government’s orders to manipulate the outcome of the election results,” the letter said.

Opposition leaders claimed that the independence of the Electoral Commission had been eroded in recent years. Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in the Anoop Baranwal case, they argued that judicial concerns regarding the process of appointment of Election Commissioners remain valid. The letter criticized changes made by subsequent legislation that removed the Chief Justice of India from the committee responsible for appointment of the Chief Electoral Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

In its letter, the opposition said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s “brazenly biased behaviour” and his “open and shameless support for the BJP during the election processes and results” are a matter of serious concern. They accused the EC of not acting “impartially” in the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct ahead of the elections, “choosing not to take action when the Model Code of Conduct was violated by the ruling political party – all this targeting those in the Opposition.”

The parties also questioned the logic behind the conduct of the SIR. The opposition claimed that the political rhetoric surrounding the exercise focused on the alleged infiltration of Bangladeshis in the Bihar electoral rolls. “Now that the Bihar Assembly elections are over, there is no data to show that such infiltration has actually taken place and the Election Commission has not made public any data on the number of Bangladeshis who illegally gained the right to vote in India,” the letter said. The statement was included.

The situation worsened in West Bengal, where the opposition said the government was under siege with the presence of 2.4 lakh CAPF personnel. “To put this in context, 3.5 lakh CAPF personnel have been deployed for the entire Lok Sabha election in 2024,” the letter stated. The letter also complained about arbitrary exclusion of voters under the “never used” category and logical inconsistencies leading to exclusion of around 25 lakh voters.

“We believe that the recent elections in Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra were also manipulated,” the letter said.

The opposition demanded immediate suspension of the SIR, arguing that such a comprehensive overhaul of voter rolls should be done only at least five years before the next Assembly elections. This, they said, would allow Commission representatives to verify voters through door-to-door visits rather than a document-based process that has never been adopted in the past.

“Judges do not live in ivory towers. You are also aware of what is happening on the ground. The legacy media is greatly endangered, but there are still many independent platforms that speak truth to power,” the letter said. The opposition also claimed that it did not question the judiciary.

“When all else fails, people still trust the judiciary. Therefore, when the judiciary does not respond, it indicates the complete collapse of the Republic,” the letter said.