SC stays FIRs against Psephologist Sanjay Kumar over Maharashtra election data row

New Delhi [India], August 25 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday stayed FIRs filed against psephologist Sanjay Kumar in a case concerning the wrong claims made by him over the election data of the State of Maharashtra.
A bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice NV Anjaria made the aforesaid decision after the counsel appearing for Kumar submitted that his client is a respected figure with 30 years of service and integrity, who made a mistake, publicly apologised and deleted the wrong content. The bench also issued notice to the respondent State of Maharashtra, seeking their response to Kumar's plea.
On August 17, Kumar, in a post on X, claimed that there are increases and decreases in the number of voters in specific constituencies. However, he subsequently apologised by making another tweet admitting that his earlier post was made on an erroneous analysis.
Following the controversy, the Nagpur and Nashik Police registered First Information Reports (FIR) against Kumar.
As per police officials in Nagpur, the FIR was filed under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, including sections 175, 353(1)(b), 212, and 340(1)(2), indicating charges related to false information and potential election-related violations. The Nashik Police have also filed a case against Sanjay Kumar.
"Sanjay Kumar from CSDS has posted misleading information of voters and an FIR is registered against him. It is requested of all citizens to verify the info only from the ECl website," District Election Officer Nashik posted on X.
On Tuesday, Kumar issued a public apology on X, acknowledging the error in his original post. "I sincerely apologise for the tweets posted regarding the Maharashtra elections. An error occurred while comparing the data of 2024 LS and 2024 AS."
Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on Wednesday issued a showcase notice to the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) for allegedly manipulating data related to the Maharashtra elections.
Kumar moved the top court seeking protection from the FIR lodged against him.
Today, the top court issued notice on Kumar's plea and stayed the FIRs filed against him. (ANI)