The Supreme Court (SC) has granted temporary relief to psephologist Sanjay Kumar, staying proceedings on two First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against him by the Maharashtra Police. The FIRs were lodged based on complaints alleging that Kumar spread misinformation regarding Maharashtra's electoral rolls through posts on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

The case stems from social media posts made by Kumar concerning the number of voters in the Nashik West and Hingna Assembly segments, where he claimed a significant rise in voters between the Lok Sabha elections last year and the Maharashtra polls earlier this year. He also stated that the number of voters sharply fell in Ramtek and Devlali seats. Specifically, Kumar claimed that the number of voters in Nashik West and Hingna Assembly segments rose by 47% and 43% respectively, and that the number of voters in Ramtek and Devlali seats fell by 38% and 36% respectively.

These claims triggered a political row, with Congress leaders alleging that the posts vindicated their accusations of vote fraud against the ruling BJP and the Election Commission of India. However, Kumar later retracted his statements and issued a public apology, citing an error in comparing data from the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. He explained that his data team had misread a row of data and that the tweets had been removed, clarifying that he had no intention of dispersing misinformation.

Despite the apology and retraction, FIRs were filed against Kumar in Nagpur and Nashik under sections related to false information and election-related violations. The complaints were filed by tehsildars who accused Kumar of circulating false and misleading voter data. One of the complainants, Nayab Tehsildar Praveena Shekhar Tadvi, stated that she was instructed by the state election office to take action.

Challenging the FIRs, Kumar argued that they constituted a misuse of law and an attempt to harass an academic for what was, at worst, a bona fide error. He contended that a tweet giving wrong information could not form the basis of an FIR for offenses such as forgery, and that the criminal sections invoked were inapplicable to the case's facts and circumstances. Kumar also pointed out that the posts were a bona fide and inadvertent error, for which he had issued a public apology and clarification, and that there was no criminal intent.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice N V Anjaria, took note of the submissions made by Kumar's counsel, who emphasized that Kumar had deleted the posts and apologized immediately for the error. The counsel argued that Kumar has impeccable integrity and thirty years of service, emphasizing that the error was a mistake for which he apologized publicly. The Court then issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and directed that no coercive action be taken against Kumar.

The case has also drawn reactions from political figures, with BJP's IT head Amit Malviya stating that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party relied on Kumar's flawed data to make allegations against the Election Commission and the BJP. Malviya demanded an apology from the Congress leader.

Sanjay Kumar is the co-director of Lokniti, a research programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). He has made the Maharashtra government, the state DGP, and the complainants parties to his petition.