Supreme Court to hear plea against voter list revision in Maharashtra, issues notice to Centre and ECI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Maharashtra. More than 2.06 crore voters' names have been left out of the draft list. The court issued notice to the Centre, the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the other respondents. The next hearing will be on November 5.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana heard the plea. It was filed by Arun Anandgiri, a chartered accountant and journalist. He has challenged the entire exercise and sought safeguards to prevent voters' names from being deleted.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar appeared for the petitioner. He told the court that some people in Mumbai and Pune had moved temporarily out of their homes because of redevelopment projects. It is alleged that they were put in the "person not found" category and removed from the voter list.

Datar said that of Maharashtra's roughly 9.79 crore voters, about two crore names have been dropped from the draft list. He also said that another 1.22 crore voters have allegedly been placed in the "logical discrepancies" category.

The petition seeks an interim stay on the SIR process in Maharashtra until the Supreme Court decides the challenge. It also asks the court to direct that, in the meantime, no voter whose name was on the list before the revision be excluded or deleted.

The petitioner is concerned that eligible voters may be left off the list, especially people who moved elsewhere for a while because of redevelopment. Their absence does not necessarily mean they are no longer entitled to remain on the list.

Issuing notice means the respondents will get a chance to respond to the allegations and the relief sought. The court has not yet ruled on the merits of the challenge, nor has it granted the interim protection sought.

According to figures from the office of Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer, 2,06,88,487 voters are out of the draft roll prepared after the SIR. This is 21.14 per cent of the state's 9,78,54,049 registered voters. State election officials say these voters were not found at the addresses recorded against their names during the revision.

The scale of the exclusions has now become the central issue in the legal fight. The petition questions what the consequences of removing so many voters will be. It also seeks protection for those whose names were on the list before the exercise.

"Logical discrepancies" is also mentioned in the petitioner's arguments. However, the exact categories, and how they relate to the total number of voters excluded, would need clarification from the authorities concerned.

The Supreme Court has sought replies from the Centre, the ECI and the other respondents before taking the matter forward. Arguments from both sides are expected before the bench at the November 5 hearing. The court will decide what to do about the petitioner's demand to halt the revision and bar further deletions.

For now, the draft voter list is under legal challenge. The final outcome will depend on the replies filed by the authorities and the court's further directions.