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New Delhi: In a counter-affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Election Commission (EC) and its three commissioners have sought to defend the various decisions taken within the poll body that have been thrust into the national spotlight by the Indian Express, including its move to alter the online version of Form 6 and file lakhs of objections against the registration of voters in Bengal.

At the outset of the counter-affidavit filed on Monday (October 26) evening, deputy election commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu said that the document stands approved “by a unanimous decision” of the trio – a declaration occurring in the wake of the Express revealing that commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to or complained about being in the dark over some aspects of the contentious special intensive revision (SIR).

The counter-affidavit, filed in response to a petition challenging the SIR and seeking action against chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, also asserts that the three orders effecting the respective phases of the revision exercise were issued “in accordance with decisions of the EC arrived at unanimously” and in compliance with the law.

“All contentions to the contrary are erroneous and denied. The attempts to make aspersions against the EC is unfortunate,” the counter-affidavit seen by The Wire states.

Referring to the alteration of Form 6,........

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