The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and Election Commission on a plea challenging Maharashtra’s SIR, which excluded over 2.06 crore voters from draft rolls.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, Election Commission and others on a petition challenging the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra, where more than 2.06 crore voters have been excluded from the draft rolls.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana sought responses on a petition filed by chartered accountant and journalist Arun Anandagiri.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that voters temporarily relocated during redevelopment projects in Mumbai and Pune had been excluded as “persons not found”.
He alleged that around two crore voters had been removed from the draft rolls and another 1.22 crore electors had been affected by “logical discrepancies”.
The petition sought a stay on the revision exercise and protection against the deletion of voters whose names appeared on the pre-SIR electoral rolls.
According to the state chief electoral officer, 2,06,88,487 voters, accounting for 21.14 per cent of the state's 9.79 crore registered electors, were excluded from the draft rolls because they could not be traced at their recorded addresses.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on November 5.
