Maharashtra SIR: SC declines to extend claims deadline without hearing ECI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and other authorities on a petition alleging widespread voter deletions during Maharashtra’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), but declined to suspend the ongoing process or extend the deadline without hearing the poll body.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, scheduled the next hearing for November 5. The petition names the ECI, the Centre, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer and the Maharashtra government as respondents.

The petitioner, Arun Anandagiri, challenged the removal of names from the draft electoral roll and the requirement for affected voters to submit Form 6 to restore their registration.

Senior advocate Arvind P. Datar, representing the petitioner, said nearly three crore people had been excluded from a state electorate of around nine crore. He cited 1.22 crore deletions attributed to discrepancies in voter records and argued that Form 6 was designed for new registrations, potentially creating difficulties for existing voters.

The petitioner also sought more time to file claims and objections and asked the court to prevent publication of the final list until the dispute was resolved. The Bench declined immediate intervention, indicating that further directions could be considered after examining the ECI’s response.

Under the current schedule, claims and objections are being processed until November 10, with the final electoral roll due on November 16.

With IANS inputs