'If SIR excludes citizens from voterslist, what is its purpose?': Bombay HC to EC
The Bombay High Court has questioned the Election Commission of India regarding the exclusion of citizens from electoral rolls during a special revision process in Goa. The court criticized the commission for creating a 'Catch-22' situation for voters whose names were deleted without proper notice.
Why it matters
It underscores the constitutional importance of voter registration processes and the accountability of election bodies in protecting democratic rights.
PANAJI: Bombay high court Monday grilled Election Commission over how Paresh Salgaonkar and his family of five were deleted from the Goa electoral rolls despite being Indian citizens and submitting Form 8 for change of address.“…the Election Commission has a constitutional obligation to ensure that only persons who are citizens are on the rolls. If by this process (special intensive revision or SIR), citizens are excluded, then what is the purpose of this mandate,” the two-judge bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar asked EC.The court told EC that the entire exercise of SIR was to find out whether the voter is an Indian citizen or not.“The basis of SIR is not to see whether the voter is present in a particular place or not, but to find out whether the voter is an Indian citizen or not.
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