# 42 former judges issue open letter defending Election Commission 2026-10-08T12:10:31+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets A group of 42 former judges, including former Supreme Court justices Hemant Gupta and Pankaj Mittal, on 7 October released an open letter titled 'An Open Letter to the People of India In Defence of Our Constitutional Institutions'. The letter expresses concern over repeated attacks on constitutional bodies, particularly the Election Commission of India, and the levelling of allegations such as 'vote theft' without evidence. The former judges defended the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, citing Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which empowers the commission to modify voter lists. They argued the SIR aims to remove deceased voters, delete duplicate entries, correct relocated voters' details and include eligible citizens. The signatories urged political parties to avoid declaring the electoral process illegitimate and asked media not to amplify unverified claims. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The open letter from 42 former judges, reported by both Prabhat Khabar and TV9 Hindi, criticises unsubstantiated allegations against the Election Commission, including 'vote theft' and EVM tampering. Both outlets detail the judges' defence of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls under the Representation of the People Act. TV9 Hindi amplifies a broader appeal to political parties and media to avoid spreading unchecked accusations, while Prabhat Khabar focuses on the specific concern that charges levelled in press conferences are not supported by sworn affidavits when required. The coverage is uniform: no sourcing conflict or omitted detail exists between the two reports. The letter signals growing institutional anxiety ahead of the ongoing SIR process, whose completion deadline the sources do not specify. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - tv9hindi.com (neutral report) Reports letter's defence of SIR and criticism of baseless allegations - prabhatkhabar.com (neutral report) Names 42 signatories and details SIR defence, no slant added This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Election Commission of India, Hemant Gupta, Pankaj Mittal, Supreme Court Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/42-former-judges-issue-open-letter-defending-election-commission/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/42-former-judges-issue-open-letter-defending-election-commission/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/