The Election Commission (EC) has rejected police complaints filed against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal in connection with the deaths of voters who had received hearing notices under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The EC has called the allegations an attempt to intimidate election officials.

Reacting to media reports about the complaints, the CEO, West Bengal, wrote on X: “It has come to the notice of this office from various press releases that two complaints have been filed with the police, against the Chief Election Commissioner of India and the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal.”

The CEO said the accusations were baseless and motivated, adding, “the allegations contained therein appear to be premeditated, unsubstantiated and a crude attempt to browbeat the officers tasked with discharging statutory duties in connection with SIR 2026.”

Rejecting what they termed pressure tactics, the CEO said: “Such intimidatory tactics designed to threaten the election machinery into submission and derail the process are undoubtedly destined to fail.”

Emphasising that the matter would be pursued legally, the CEO added, “No stone will be left unturned to unearth the conspiracy behind these serial and fabricated complaints, rule of law and truth shall prevail. The election machinery in the state is committed to function with grit and rectitude solely and wholly in public interest.”

“No FIR can be lodged against the CEC. The law is specific on this. A CEO too cannot be blamed for any criminal offence while discharging his duties. Any FIR drawn by police will have legal consequences,” an EC official said, reported Times of India.

The complaints were filed by families of two elderly voters who died on Monday after receiving hearing notices under the SIR process.

In Purulia, Kanai Majhi alleged that his father, Durjan Majhi, 82, was under distress after receiving a notice, claiming his name appeared in the physical 2002 Bengal SIR rolls but was missing from the 2002 SIR list uploaded on the Election Commission’s website.

Durjan Majhi died by suicide hours before his scheduled hearing.

In Howrah, the son of 64-year-old Jamat Ali Sekh alleged that the CEC and the state CEO had misused their powers by issuing a hearing notice to his father, a valid voter, subjecting him to mental duress that allegedly led to his death.

The Election Commission had clarified in a 27 December notification that around 1.3 lakh voters whose names appear in the 2002 physical SIR rolls but are missing from the online database due to a technical glitch would not be required to appear for hearings.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, another incident was reported from East Midnapore, where a 75-year-old man, Bimal Shee, who was reportedly distressed after receiving a hearing notice, was found hanging at his residence, further intensifying the political and administrative scrutiny around the SIR exercise in the state.