The Bombay High Court has ordered the Election Commission to restore the names of six voters deleted from the electoral rolls in Goa, following a petition by the affected individuals. The order was issued against the backdrop of concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the voter roll revision process.
On Thursday, the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court directed the Election Commission (EC) to restore the names of six members of a family who had been deleted from the electoral rolls during a special intensive revision in the state. The petitioners, who had moved to a new house eight years ago in the Santa Cruz Assembly constituency in North Goa, claimed that their applications for a change of address had been rejected by their booth-level officer. They were subsequently told that their names were deleted from the draft rolls and were asked to submit Form 6 instead of Form 8, which is used for updating the details of existing voters. The petitioners argued that this was legally untenable as Form 6 is meant for first-time voter registration.
The court rejected a request by the EC’s counsel to stay its order, allowing the poll panel to approach the Supreme Court. During the hearing, the EC's counsel argued that the omission of names from the draft rolls did not mean they had been deleted, as the exercise involves preparing electoral rolls afresh instead of automatically carrying forward existing entries.
On Tuesday, the Election Commission clarified that voters whose names are missing from the draft electoral rolls prepared under the special intensive revision can submit Form 6 to seek inclusion without prosecution for making a false declaration, even if they had been enrolled previously. The EC also noted that since the draft rolls are prepared strictly from newly collected enumeration forms, people who have not been enumerated do not have an existing entry that can be modified through Form 8.
In October 2021, the Election Commission had directed its state units where the revision had been completed to identify and restore eligible voters who may have been wrongly excluded, using Form 6. However, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi had stated that Form 6 cannot be filled by deleted voters as it is only for new voters.
The case raises concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the voter roll revision process in India, and its potential impact on electoral outcomes.
Source:
Scroll.in
