Name missing from draft SIR roll does not amount to deletion, Election Commission tells Bombay High Court

Panaji: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Bombay High Court at Goa that the absence of a voter’s name from the draft electoral roll prepared under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) cannot be treated as deletion, as the roll is prepared afresh under the exercise.

The submission was made before a division bench of Justices Amit S Jamsandekar and Valmiki Menezes while the court heard a petition filed by Paresh Salgaoncar and five members of his family, whose names were removed from the electoral rolls after their Form 8 applications seeking a change of address were rejected. The court reserved its verdict in the matter on Tuesday.

Senior Advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the ECI, said that since the electoral roll was being prepared anew, there was no existing roll from which a name could be deleted. He said non-inclusion in the draft roll only meant that the elector had to follow the due process for inclusion.

“That is only a draft to be finalised after following the due process of receipt and decisions on the suggestions and objections. Thus, such non-inclusion in the draft SIR necessitates following of due process by the elector for the inclusion,” he submitted.

The Commission said the SIR was an extraordinary and comprehensive mechanism for revising electoral rolls from scratch, unlike the routine Special Summary Revision (SSR), which merely updates an existing active roll.

Citing Rule 25(2) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the counsel said an intensive revision required the electoral roll to be prepared afresh. Under the process, Booth Level Officers visit every household and collect enumeration forms, which are generally pre-filled with details from the existing roll.

He said the existing roll served only as a reference base and was not automatically carried forward. A name enters the new draft roll only if the elector submits the enumeration form, he added.

The ECI further submitted that a person whose name does not appear in the draft roll has no existing entry to rely upon and must apply afresh by filing Form 6, along with the required declaration and documents, during the claims and objections period. Only after these claims and objections are decided is the final electoral roll published.

“In effect, such a person is treated as a new applicant, a new voter, for the roll in issue. The fact that the name was on the earlier roll does not by itself secure a place in the new one,” the counsel said.

The ECI said the petitioner had not been residing at the address recorded in the pre-SIR electoral roll for eight to 10 years. It argued that he should have applied for a change of address within the constituency before the SIR began.

The Commission said Form 8 is meant for shifting an existing entry from one place to another or for correcting an existing entry. Since the entry was not present in the newly prepared roll, the form could not be used, it submitted.

The bench, however, asked the ECI why Form 8 was not accepted during the SIR process, while clarifying that it was not examining the SIR process itself.

The counsel replied that during the SIR, the roll was being prepared afresh from the ground up, and therefore there was no question of filing Form 8 at that stage. He said the form could be used before the SIR began, when there was a reference list that could be updated.

According to the petition, Salgaoncar and his family members moved to a new house in the same Santa Cruz Assembly constituency at least eight years ago. They said the Booth Level Officer had asked them to submit Form 8 for a change of address.

The petitioners alleged that the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer later informed them that their Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) had been deleted from the rolls, due to which their Form 8 applications could not be processed.

They said the only option available was to file Form 6, meant for new voters, as the ERONET portal did not provide any option to review or restore deleted EPICs.