Bombay HC questions ECI over voter deletions during SIR
The Bombay High Court’s Goa bench on Monday questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the removal of voters’ names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, stressing that eligible Indian citizens must be included in the final rolls.
A division bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar asked the ECI why voters were being excluded during the revision process.
“If citizens are excluded, what will we do with your SIR? If citizens are being removed from the list, then what is the purpose of this entire SIR process?” the court said, according to LiveLaw.
The court referred to an earlier Supreme Court judgment and said the ECI has an obligation to ensure that all eligible Indian citizens are included in the electoral roll.
The bench also questioned the ECI’s argument that the existing electoral roll could not be examined while the SIR was underway. It said the existing list could not simply be ignored while the draft roll was being prepared.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court’s principal bench in Mumbai declined to pass an interim order preventing voter deletions in Maharashtra under the SIR, saying the matter was already before the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna were hearing a petition filed by Sagar Ramesh Gawai, youth wing president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. The petition alleged procedural violations and arbitrary exclusion of voters and sought greater transparency in the process.
The petitioner also sought a formal hearing before an Electoral Registration Officer, followed by an order, before a voter’s name could be removed.
Senior advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the ECI, said the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the SIR matter concerning Maharashtra and other states and Union Territories on October 8.
The High Court said parallel proceedings would amount to judicial impropriety and declined interim relief. The matter will be heard after three weeks.