തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ് കമ്മീഷന്റെ വോട്ടർ പട്ടിക പുതുക്കൽ: നിയമസാധുത പരിശോധിക്കാൻ മുൻ ജഡ്ജിമാരുടെ സമിതി

The Lawyers' Association for Constitution (LAFC) has set up a panel of former Supreme Court and high court judges to examine the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll undertaken by the Election Commission (EC).

The panel will consist of five members and will be chaired by former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur, the lawyers' association said in a press release dated October 2, 2026.

Besides Lokur, the panel will comprise former Supreme Court judge A K Patnaik, former chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Badar Durrez Ahmad and former judges Rekha Sharma and Anjana Prakash.

The move came in the wake of protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after an India Express investigation revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record 14 times in 10 months to decisions taken in the Commission’s name without their knowledge, including the change to Form 6, deletion of voters and ECINET, the online portal where the electoral roll now sits.

Who are these five judges? Know all about their education and career here.

1. Justice Madan B. Lokur (former Judge, Supreme Court of India)

Education: Born on December 31, 1953, Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur studied in Modern School, New Delhi, till 1968. He passed the ISCE examination in 1970-71 from St. Joseph's Collegiate, Allahabad. He Graduated in History (Hons) from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi in 1974. He obtained an LLB degree from the Faculty of Law, Delhi University in 1977.

Career: Justice Madan B. Lokur enrolled as an advocate in July 1977. He practiced in the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court.

He was appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India in July 1998, and later served as an Additional Judge of Delhi High Court in February 1999. He was appointed as the permanent judge of that High Court on in July 1999. Justice Madan B. Lokur also served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court from February 13, 2010 to May 21, 2010.

He was appointed as the judge of the Supreme Court on June 4, 2012. He retired as the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court on December 30, 2018.

As a judge of the non-resident panel of the Supreme court of Fiji, he became, by far, the first Indian judge to become a judge of a foreign country.

2. Justice AK Patnaik (former Judge, Supreme Court of India)

Education: Justice Ananga Kumar (AK) Patnaik was born on June 3, 1949. He is the son of late Gopal Chandra Patnaik, a leading businessman with great repute in Odisha. He pursued higher education from Delhi University with Honours in Political Science and earned a Law Degree from Madhusudan Law College, Cuttack, according to his profile on the Supreme Court's website.

Career: He was enrolled with the State Bar Council of Orissa on March 28, 1974, and practised in the high court, subordinate courts and tribunals in Orissa.

He was elevated to the post of Additional Judge of the High Court of Orissa on January 13, 1994. He assumed charge as Additional Judge of the Gauhati High Court on February 7, 1994. He became a permanent Judge of the Gauhati High Court in 1995.

After rendering valuable services for eight years as a Judge in the Gauhati High Court, he again assumed charge as a Judge of the Orissa High Court on April 15, 2002.

Justice AK Patnaik was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on March 14, 2005. He was transferred as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 2, 2005. He was appointed as the judge of the Supreme Court in 2009 and retired in 2014.

3. Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad (former Chief Justice, Jammu & Kashmir High Court)

Education: Born on March 16, 1956, in Shillong (Meghalaya), Justice Ahmad studied in St Edmund's College, Shillong, (1962-1966) and St Columba's High School, New Delhi (1966-1971).

He graduated from St Stephen's College, Delhi University in 1975. He was a lecturer in Economics for BA (Hons) Second and final-year students at St Stephen's College, Delhi (1977-1979).

At the same time, he was also studying for the LLB Degree, which he received in 1980 from Delhi University.

Career: Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad enrolled as an advocate on September 5, 1980, with the Bar Council of Delhi and started practice in the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court.

According to the Delhi High Court's website, Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad has a keen interest in personal laws, including Muslim Personal Law, and has written several articles on the subject.

He was elevated as an additional Judge of the Delhi High Court on December 20, 2002. He was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on June 10, 2013, and served till September 2, 2013.

He was again appointed as the Acting Chief Justice on February 17, 2014. He was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on April 1, 2017.

4. Justice Rekha Sharma (former Judge, Delhi High Court)

Education: Born on July 31, 1949, Justice Rekha Sharma pursued her graduation from Miranda House, University of Delhi, Delhi. She studied law at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, and was enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1972.

Career: She practised mainly in the Delhi High Court on Constitutional, Civil and Criminal matters. She was appointed as central government counsel for the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1988.

She served as an Additional District Judge in January 1988 and was appointed as District & Sessions Judge on October 1, 2004.

She was elevated as Additional Judge of Delhi High Court on February 23, 2005 and became a permanent judge on February 22, 2006. She retired on July 30, 2011.

5. Justice Anjana Prakash (former Judge, Patna High Court)

Education: Justice Anjana Prakash was an alumna of Patna Women's College and studied law at Bhagalpur University, according to a report in the Leaflet.

Career: Justice Anjana Prakash was appointed as a judge of the Patna High Court on June 13, 2009, and served until her retirement on July 17, 2016.

She was the first woman to be elevated to the position of senior advocate at the Patna High Court, along with Justice Seema Ali Khan, the Leaflet reported.

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She established herself as one of the topmost criminal lawyers at the Patna High Court and holds the distinction of being the first woman to be elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate at that court.

Following her retirement from the bench in 2016, she resumed legal practice as a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India, the report added.

What will the panel do?

The LAFC said the commission has been formed in response to growing concerns raised by citizens regarding the "design, implementation, and consequences" of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll undertaken by the Election Commission of India.

It said the panel will examine the constitutional and statutory validity, methodology and overall impact of the exercise to revise the voter list.

"The newly-formed independent commission of former judges on the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll will function with complete autonomy to examine the constitutional and statutory validity, methodology and overall impact of the SIR exercise on eligible voters," the statement read.

The commission will examine, among other issues, whether eligible citizens were retained on the electoral roll and whether ineligible entries were appropriately excluded, the release said.

As part of its inquiry, the commission plans to hold public hearings across the country, with full and regional benches travelling to different locations to record the views and testimonies of affected citizens, civil society organisations and experts.

Besides, a dedicated Research Wing will collate and analyse the data regarding voter roll additions/deletions across the country and present it before the Commission.

"A Legal Support Team will review relevant legislation, notifications, and verification processes to assess compliance with constitutional safeguards," the association said in the press release.

The LAFC said the commission would have the final responsibility for its findings and recommendations.

The Commission aims to complete its inquiry on an intensive schedule, with a target to release its final report to the public by December 2026.

It said a number of senior lawyers, including Kapil Sibal, Prashant Bhushan, Chander Uday Singh, Prashanto Chandra Sen, Raju Ramachandran, Rebecca Mammen John, Warisha Farasat and Vrinda Grover, would provide strategic legal advice to the commission.