New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday stayed proceedings on two FIRs lodged by Maharashtra Police against psephologist Sanjay Kumar, who set off a political slugfest by his Aug 17 social media posts claiming irregular increase or decrease in voters in state constituencies but a day later deleted them with an apology. Giving a long description of his credentials as a “reputed and respected intellectual”, and his books, surveys and research shaping the understanding of scholars, journalists and policymakers about India’s democracy, Kumar said he had uploaded two posts on social media platform X revealing increase and decrease in number of voters in specific constituencies based on research carried out by his associates.
Psephologist Sanjay Kumar Deletes Post Claiming Voter Decline in Maharashtra
His counsel explained to a bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice N V Anjaria that “due to a technical error on the part of an associate, the rows of data in comparison were misarranged, thereby displaying the wrong increase/decrease in voter lists”, and that on becoming aware of the technical mistake, he deleted his posts and uploaded an apology explaining how the error crept in. The CJI-led bench stayed further proceedings on the two FIRs, noting the
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