Mumbai: Bombay High Court To Hear Plea Raising Concerns Over Maharashtra SIR, Including Wrongful Voter Exclusion On Oct 5

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition raising concerns over the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra and posted the matter for hearing on October 5.

The petition, filed on behalf of two businessmen, was mentioned before a division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna. The petitioners' counsel submitted that the plea raised an important issue concerning citizens' rights.

“There is extreme urgency in this matter, which raises an important issue about the rights of citizens. At least 2 crore 10 lakh citizens' names are likely to be deleted from the State's voter list,” the counsel told the bench, according to LiveLaw.

Petition seeks disclosure of SIR basis

The report further states that the petition does not seek to stop the SIR exercise in Maharashtra. Instead, it seeks disclosure of the order and recorded reasons under which the exercise is being undertaken, along with transparency over its methodology and legal basis.

The petitioners have contended that the Election Commission of India (ECI) may conduct a limited electoral assessment but cannot conclusively determine citizenship. Where doubts over citizenship remain, the matter should be referred to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955, the plea states.

Plea seeks safeguards for voters

While, the reports further indicate that the petition also seeks safeguards against the wrongful exclusion of eligible voters and restoration of names deleted from electoral rolls.

Therefore, the plea seeks greater transparency over the methodology and legal basis of the SIR exercise to ensure eligible voters are not wrongly excluded from the electoral rolls.

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