Delhi High Court rejects plea alleging exclusion of homeless from electoral rolls during SIR
The Delhi High Court dismissed a PIL claiming that homeless individuals were being excluded from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision. The court ruled that existing mechanisms already allow for the registration of homeless persons using a '0' house number designation.
Why it matters
This ruling clarifies the legal rights of marginalized populations to participate in the democratic process despite lacking a fixed residential address.
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that homeless persons in the Capital risked being left out of the electoral rolls during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), holding that an existing mechanism provides for their enrolment even without a fixed address.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said the apprehension raised by petitioner Indu Prakash Singh appeared to be without basis, noting that the electoral system already provided for the inclusion of homeless persons.
The court said there was no “vacuum” in the existing mechanism and that the petitioner had made “bald averments” regarding the alleged exclusion of persons displaced by demolition drives in Delhi over the years.
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