- Supreme Court noticed ECI regarding Maharashtra electoral roll irregularities.
- Petitioner alleged three crore names deleted, re-registration hurdles existed.
- Redevelopment projects displaced voters, risking removal from electoral rolls.
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a petition raising concerns over alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra. The matter will now be heard on November 5.
The petitioner had sought an early hearing, citing November 6 as the date scheduled for publication of the final electoral rolls.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mahadevan was told that 33 per cent of names had been deleted from the draft electoral rolls and that a large number of voters had received notices over logical discrepancies. Monday was the last date for submitting applications to have names included in the rolls.
The court said it would consider extending the deadline if necessary.
What Did The Petitioner Argue?
Senior advocate Arvind P Datar, appearing for petitioner Arun Anandgiri, told the bench that nearly three crore names had been deleted from the draft electoral rolls, which cover around nine crore voters in Maharashtra.
Datar said the Election Commission was asking voters whose names had been deleted to register afresh by filling out Form 6. He argued that Form 6 is intended for first-time voters and should not be required of people who have voted previously.
He also highlighted the challenges faced by residents of Mumbai and Pune due to redevelopment projects. According to Datar, around 3,500 such projects are under way in the two cities, involving the demolition of old housing colonies and the relocation of thousands of residents.
He warned that these relocations could put residents at risk of losing their names from the electoral rolls if their addresses and other details could not be verified.
What Did The CJI Say?
The petitioner sought a stay on the process of finalising the electoral rolls until the court had heard the matter.
Although the bench declined to extend the deadline immediately, it assured the petitioner that the case would be heard soon. The court said it would issue appropriate directions if it found that an extension was necessary.
“Do not worry. You are a whistleblower. You have come to us, so rest assured. If we find that there are people who have not yet submitted their documents, we will certainly extend the time. We have extended deadlines in SIR cases before,” the CJI said.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
