Surat, February 12 Two Congress leaders from Surat have filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, alleging widespread violations of rules and the "arbitrary deletion" of voters' names.
The petition, filed on February 10, was submitted by Vipulkumar Udhnawala, the Surat district president of the Congress, and Vinod Patil, the chief organiser of the Congress' Seva Dal in Surat.
The bench, comprising Justices Bhargav Karia and L. S. Pirzada, is expected to hear the petition in the coming days.
The SIR exercise began in Gujarat on November 4, 2023, and concluded on December 14, 2023. The Election Commission (EC) had published the draft electoral rolls for the state on December 19, according to which the names of nearly 74 lakh voters were removed from the draft rolls after the exercise, reducing the total number of electors to 4.34 crore from the earlier figure of 5.08 crore.
The respondents in the petition include the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Gujarat, the District Electoral Officer of Surat, and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of various assembly constituencies in Surat district.
In their special civil application, the petitioners sought directions to ensure strict compliance with the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 during the SIR process initiated across Gujarat by the Election Commission through the CEO.
According to the petition, the EC has undertaken an SIR of voters' lists in the state and has extended the deadline for filing objections under Rule 13(2) in Form-7 from January 18 to 30.
The petitioners allege that workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are filing objections in bulk in Form-7 without proper documentation and in violation of the rules.
They argue that under Rule 13(2), any person from the same constituency can file a claim or objection in Form-7, and that every such claim or objection must be submitted in writing to the Registration Officer.
However, the petition alleges that objections are being submitted directly to authorities in bulk, in violation of Rule 14.
The petition further states that under Rules 15 and 16, the designated officer is required to maintain duplicate lists of claims and objections and display one copy on the notice board of the office in the prescribed format, Form-11.
The petitioners allege that the respondents are not maintaining or displaying such lists as mandated.
They also contend that under Rule 17, any claim or objection not lodged within the specified period or not in the prescribed form and manner is liable to be rejected by the Registration Officer.
Despite this, the authorities are allegedly accepting objections not filed in accordance with statutory requirements and proceeding to delete voters' names.
The petition alleges that names are being deleted without serving notice or giving affected voters an opportunity to be heard, as required by the rules. It states that if the registration officer is satisfied with an objection filed in Form-7, a notice must be served and an opportunity of hearing provided before any deletion is made.
Citing Rule 21A of the Registration of Electors Rules, the petitioners further submitted that before the final publication of the electoral roll, the registration officer must prepare and display a list of names proposed to be deleted, along with details of the time and place at which the matter will be considered.
The petition alleges that no such notices are being served.
The plea also refers to the Supreme Court judgment in Lal Babu Hussein and Others vs Electoral Registration Officer and Others, stating that if a person's name appears in the draft electoral roll, there is a legal presumption that the person is an Indian citizen and the burden of proof lies on the person filing an objection under Form-7.
The petitioners claim that non-compliance with statutory provisions during the SIR process would directly affect the rights of voters in Gujarat and violate constitutional guarantees.
They have stated that a notice dated January 24 was served upon the respondents seeking compliance with the rules. A representation was also submitted on January 29 by Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda to the CEO raising similar concerns.
The petition alleges that no action has been taken on these representations.
The petitioners seek directions from the high court to reject all claims or objections not filed in accordance with Rules 13 and 14 of the Registration of Electors Rules and to direct the authorities to produce and exhibit lists in Form-11 as prescribed.
They have also sought action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and sections 216 and 217 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against persons allegedly filing false objections.
The petitioners have also sought a stay on the SIR process in Gujarat pending admission and final disposal of the case.