New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Election Commission of India on a writ petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra. The court declined to pass ex parte orders extending the date for claims and objections or restraining the Commission from publishing the final voters' list.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana posted the matter for November 5.
Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar, appearing for petitioner Arun Anandagiri, submitted that of about 9 crore voters in the state, nearly 33 per cent, or 3 crore, had been struck off after the draft rolls were published, and 1.22 crore voters were deleted on the ground of "logical discrepancy." In Pune and Mumbai, he said, 40 per cent of voters were missing, with many people relocated after redevelopment projects deleted as "person not found."
Datar said the deleted voters are being asked to file Form 6, which is meant for first-time voters. He argued that existing voters cannot be asked to do so, because Form 6 requires a declaration that the applicant has not voted before, which he said would be an offence. He pointed to the Delhi High Court's recent statement that no prosecution would follow against deleted voters filing Form 6, but said that was not an answer, and sought a separate form for deleted voters.
"Nobody will be prosecuted,"said the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant
The petitioner asked the court to direct the Commission not to finalise the roll, arguing that Maharashtra has no immediate election and that bringing back 3 crore voters would take time. He also sought an extension of the claims and objections deadline, which ended on Monday. The bench was disinclined to pass such an order without hearing the Commission, and the Chief Justice noted that the court has extended dates in the SIRs held in other states.
The claims-and-objections period in Maharashtra was first extended to October 12 and then to October 26. The final roll, due on November 16 under the Commission's revised schedule, has not been altered by Monday's order. The Election Commission has not yet filed its response to the allegations in this petition.
A separate plea heard on October 15 had also alleged large-scale deletions in the state, with 1.2 crore voters flagged for logical discrepancies and 40.6 per cent of voters reported missing in Pune and certain other areas.