Supreme Court Stays FIRs Against Prof Sanjay Kumar Of CSDS Over Erroneous Analysis Of Maharashtra Elections

The Supreme Court on Monday (August 25) stayed the proceedings in the FIRs registered by the Maharashtra police against Professor Sanjay Kumar, psephologist and the Co-Director of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) over a tweet carrying a mistaken analysis of the Maharashtra assembly elections of 2024.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice NV Anjaria passed the interim order while issuing notice on the writ petition filed by Kumar seeking the quashing of the FIRs.

During the brief hearing, the counsel for the petitioner said, "This person has impeccable integrity. 30 years of conscientious service to the nation and to the world. He is highly respected. It was a mistake. He apologized."

"You withdrew also", CJI Gavai pointed out. Kumar's counsel responded, "I deleted, I apologized publicly, after that, an FIR!"

The Court issued notice and granted a stay. However, the CJI remarked, "Normally we would not have entertained this."

On August 17, Kumar posted on his X handle about the increase and decrease in the number of voters in specific constituencies. However, after realising that the post was based on an erroneous analysis, he posted on August 19 expressing apology for his post and clarifying that his earlier post was a mistake.

Following that, the officers reporting to the Election Commission of India registered two FIRs, one at Nashik and another at Nagpur, for offences u/s 175, 353 (1)(b), 212, 340(1) (2), 356 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Seeking to quash the FIRs, Kumar approached the Supreme Court, contending that the allegations are baseless.  He contended that the FIRs are an "abuse of the State power."

"A tweet giving wrong information cannot form the basis of an FIR for offences such as Forgery. The allegations made therein are baseless, and the criminal sections invoked are demonstrably inapplicable to the facts and circumstances of the case," he argued. He contended that there was no criminal intent, as the post was a bona fide and inadvertent error, for which he issued a public apology and clarification.

"The Officers reporting to the Election Commission of India have chosen to lodge FIRs against a respected professor and public intellectual for a mere technical error that was instantly corrected. Such actions violate the fundamental principles of fairness and natural justice and serve to create a chilling effect on the exercise of free speech," he argued.

The petition was filed through AoR Sumeer Sodhi.

Case Details: Sanjay Kumar v. State of Maharashtra and Others | W.P.(Crl.) No. 330/2025  

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