Authorities confirmed that two separate FIRs were lodged, one in Nagpur’s Ramtek constituency on the complaint of the tehsildar, and another in Nashik by the district election officer. Both complaints noted that the false data had the potential to mislead voters during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.
Kumar has been booked under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including: Section 175 (false statement about an election), Section 353(1)(B) (statements inducing public mischief), Section 212 (furnishing false information to a public official) and Section 340.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) cautioned that unverified data circulation will invite legal action. The poll body urged political parties, media, and citizens to rely only on the official EC portal for accurate information.
On August 17, Sanjay Kumar posted data on social media alleging voter surges of 42 percent to 47 percent in constituencies like Hingna and Nashik West.
Nagpur Police have registered an FIR against Sanjay Kumar, an official from the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), following controversial social media posts related to Maharashtra elections. The FIR has been filed under multiple sections of the BNS, including… pic.twitter.com/FY1m0fYXoq
— ANI (@ANI) August 20, 2025
On August 18, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera cited Kumar’s figures to accuse the Election Commission of major irregularities, sharing a graphic showing voter swings of nearly 40 percent loss in Ramtek and Deolali and abnormal increases elsewhere.
Within two days, on August 19, Kumar deleted his post and issued an apology, blaming a misreading of datasets by his team, insisting there was “no intent to spread misinformation.”
Independent verification showed Kumar’s claims were grossly inflated: Nashik West’s electorate rose by just 6 percent (27,400 voters), not by 1.5 lakh as claimed. Hingna saw an addition of 25,000 voters, not a 43 percent surge.
The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), which funds CSDS, criticised the incident as a “gross violation of Grant-in-Aid rules.” The body announced a show cause notice to CSDS over the misuse of research data in political narratives.
