New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (August 25) stayed criminal proceedings in two cases against scholar Sanjay Kumar for his posting incorrect data on changes in the number of electors in two Maharashtra assembly constituencies.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice N.V. Anjaria granted the relief to Kumar in an interim order and also served notice to the Maharashtra government, LiveLaw reported.

Kumar, who is director of the Lokniti programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Delhi, had sought for the FIRs against him to be quashed.

He argued before the court that the invocation of criminal provisions against him is “demonstrably inapplicable” to the particulars of his case and that it amounts to an “abuse of state power”.

“The officers reporting to the Election Commission 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,” LiveLaw cited him as saying.

In a post on X last week, Kumar had claimed that there were large decreases in the number of electors in Maharashtra's Ramtek and Deolali assembly constituencies between the April-June 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the October 2024 assembly polls in the state.

However, the number of electors registered in those seats between the two elections had actually registered a modest increase.

His post came at a time when the EC is embroiled in controversy over its ongoing special intensive revision in Bihar as well as allegations of voter fraud, including by Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi.

Two days later, Kumar removed his post and apologised for the error, saying the data team at his organisation had misread the numbers. “I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation,” he wrote.

However, the district electoral officers of Nashik (where Deolali is located) and Nagpur (in which Ramtek falls) announced the next day that cases had been registered against Kumar.

The FIRs in the case invoke sections of the BNS including those pertaining to providing false information related to an election, statements conducive to public mischief, using forged documents and defamation, the Indian Express had reported.

The Indian Council of Social Science Research, which provides funding to Kumar's CSDS, charged the centre – without naming it or Kumar – with “data manipulation” and trying to “create a narrative with the intention of undermining the sanctity of the Election Commission”. It also served a show cause notice to the CSDS asking why its funding must not be stopped.

The psephologist had also taken down a post in which he said there had been large increases in the number of electors in the Nashik West and Hingna assembly seats between the general and assembly polls, but where the extent of the increase was much smaller.

BJP leaders were quick to go after the CSDS after Kumar retracted his posts.

Bihar's chief electoral officer too acknowledged Kumar's retraction but added to note that “his data was quoted by many INC [Congress] & Opposition leaders for questioning EC [the Election Commission]”.

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