The Bombay High Court on Monday declined to pass an urgent interim order staying the deletion of voter names in Maharashtra under the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna said matters concerning the SIR exercise were already pending before the Supreme Court and it would not be appropriate for the high court to conduct parallel proceedings.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Sagar Ramesh Gawai, youth wing president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, founded by former MP Prakash Ambedkar.
The plea alleged procedural violations and arbitrary exclusion of voters during the door-to-door enumeration exercise in Maharashtra. It sought transparency in the process and compliance with the Representation of the People Act, while opposing unilateral deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Senior advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the Election Commission, told the court that the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear matters relating to SIR in Maharashtra and other states and Union Territories on October 8.
The high court said hearing the matter simultaneously would amount to judicial impropriety, noting that the Supreme Court had specifically requested high courts not to conduct parallel proceedings on the SIR issue.
Advocate Prakash Ambedkar, appearing for the petitioner, sought an interim direction restraining further deletion of names from the electoral rolls. The bench, however, declined to intervene at this stage.
The petition also sought a formal hearing and a speaking order by the Electoral Registration Officer before any voter's name is deleted.
The high court posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.
(With inputs from PTI)
