A public intervention by 42 retired judges has brought a new dimension to the intensifying political dispute over the Election Commission of India and the revision of electoral rolls. The former judges have warned that sustained attacks on constitutional institutions, particularly when serious allegations are made without being pursued through appropriate legal forums, can gradually erode public confidence in the democratic system. Their intervention also raises a larger question: how should a democracy balance vigorous institutional scrutiny with the responsibility to preserve faith in the institutions that conduct elections and administer justice?
The open letter by 42 former judges is significant not merely because of the number of retired judges who have signed it, but because it enters a political debate that has increasingly moved beyond individual electoral disputes. Opposition parties have intensified their criticism of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and questioned aspects of electoral-roll revision, while allegations of “vote theft” have become a prominent part of the political narrative. Against this backdrop, the former judges have argued that criticism must be accompanied by evidence and pursued through constitutionally established mechanisms.
Their central argument is not that constitutional institutions should remain beyond scrutiny. Indeed, the letter explicitly acknowledges criticism as a democratic right. What concerns the signatories is the transition from scrutiny to what they describe as systematic denigration. Calling institutions “compromised” or accusing them of stealing votes without substantiating those claims before competent forums, they argue, risks transforming political rhetoric into an attack on institutional legitimacy.
This distinction is important in a constitutional democracy. Institutions such as the Election Commission derive much of their authority not from coercive power but from public acceptance of their decisions. Elections inevitably produce winners and losers, and disputes over electoral processes are therefore unavoidable. The institutional challenge lies in ensuring that such disputes are resolved through evidence, law and transparent procedures rather than through competing claims in the public arena alone.
The retired judges have also questioned the recurring controversy surrounding Electronic Voting Machines. Their argument is essentially that allegations concerning the integrity of an electoral mechanism cannot logically be applied selectively depending on electoral outcomes. If the same system is accepted when a party wins but questioned when it loses, public confidence can become hostage to political convenience.
At the same time, the political concerns surrounding electoral-roll revision cannot simply be dismissed because they are politically inconvenient. The Special Intensive Revision is being defended by the former judges as a legally established exercise designed to improve the accuracy of electoral rolls. Yet any revision involving the verification, inclusion or deletion of voters naturally demands transparency and effective avenues for genuine grievances. Protecting the integrity of the electoral roll and protecting eligible voters from wrongful exclusion are complementary objectives, not competing ones.
This is where the debate should ideally move. Instead of treating every institutional criticism as an attack on democracy, or every institutional defence as an attempt to silence dissent, political parties and constitutional authorities need to create space for evidence-based scrutiny. Electoral disagreements are healthy when they lead to stronger procedures, clearer explanations and greater accountability.
The warning issued by the retired judges about unrest is therefore part of a larger institutional concern. Democracy depends not only on periodic elections but also on public acceptance of the rules and institutions governing those elections. If citizens come to believe that ballots, courts or constitutional bodies have no legitimacy, political disagreement can increasingly migrate from institutions to the streets.
The letter's most consequential message is consequently about democratic trust. Institutions must remain open to scrutiny, while political actors must recognise that allegations carrying enormous public consequences require equally substantial evidence. The credibility of democracy cannot be protected by demanding unquestioning faith, nor can it survive if every adverse institutional decision is automatically portrayed as proof of conspiracy.
The responsibility is shared. The Election Commission must remain transparent and responsive; political parties must substantiate serious allegations; courts must remain accessible to genuine challenges; and citizens must be able to distinguish between legitimate criticism and rhetoric designed primarily to delegitimise institutions. In that balance lies the resilience of India's democratic framework.
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