Form-7 misuse: Supreme Court to consider Congress MP’s plea alleging targeted deletions in U.P.
The Supreme Court of India is set to hear a plea regarding the alleged misuse of Form-7 to fraudulently delete voters from electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh. The petitioner claims that these deletions disproportionately target minority and marginalized communities.
Why it matters
The integrity of electoral rolls is fundamental to democratic processes, and allegations of systemic manipulation carry significant legal and political weight.
The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a plea by Congress MP Tanuj Punia highlighting widespread misuse and fraud in connection with Form 7 during the claims-and-objections phase of the Uttar Pradesh Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Form-7 is a statutory mechanism under the Registration of Electors Rules of 1960, intended to enable limited and bona fide objections to the inclusion of names in the electoral roll, or deletion on narrowly defined grounds, including death or permanent shifting of residence.
Appearing before a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on August 5, senior advocates Salman Khusheed and advocate Shariq Ahmed, representing Mr. Punia, said there was documented evidence to show that the Form-7 process had been utilised to facilitate bulk, fraudulent and targeted deletion attempts against eligible electors, “particularly of those belonging to minority and marginalised sections of society”.
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