New Delhi: In a major relief for psephologist and Co-Director of Centre for the Lokniti Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Sanjay Kumar, over Maharashtra poll analysis figures, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the proceedings in the FIRs registered against him by the Maharashtra police.
The Election Commission filed two FIRs against Kumar for a now-deleted post on X laying out a mistaken analysis of the Maharashtra assembly elections of 2024, Live Law reported.
The poll body accused him of spreading misinformation related to Maharashtra's electoral rolls through posts on social media.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice NV Anjaria passed the interim order on a petition filed by Kumar seeking the quashing of the FIRs, while also issuing notice on the writ petition filed by Kumar seeking the quashing of all FIRs against him.
The petition alleges that the FIRs constitute a misuse of law and are an attempt to harass an academic for what was, at worst, a bona fide error
"Issue notice. In the meantime, there shall be no coercive action," the CJI said.
Sanjay Kumar Issues Apology
Earlier on August 19, Kumar apologised for a post on X in which he had claimed that there was a dip in the number of voters in two constituencies during the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls, as compared to the Lok Sabha elections.
"I sincerely apologize for the tweets posted regarding Maharashtra elections. Error occurred while comparing data of 2024 LS and 2024 AS. The data in row was misread by our Data team. The tweet has since been removed. I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation," the post on X read.
What Was In The Deleted Post?
Kumar in the deleted post had claimed that the number of voters in the Nashik West and Hingna Assembly segments surged by 47 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively, between the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 and the state polls in 2024. He further claimed that the number of voters declined sharply in Ramtek and Devlali constinuency by 38 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.
What Rahul Gandhi Had Said?
Notably, on August 7, the Congress MP had alleged that the ECI had conspired with the BJP to steal votes. In his PPT presentation, Gandhi accused the poll body of “vote chori (theft” in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura constituency. He also cited Kumar’s Maharashtra data to support his allegations. He also claimed that votes were also stolen in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
The poll body refuted all the allegations levelled by Rahul Gandhi
