NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to a petition filed by Arun Anandagiri, a chartered accountant and journalist, challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra.
The petition alleged that the exercise was hurried and opaque, with 33 per cent of voters deleted from the rolls. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mahadevan agreed to examine the plea and issued notice to the ECI.
The plea alleged that the SIR in Maharashtra was being conducted without adhering to statutory safeguards, resulting in the arbitrary inclusion and exclusion of voters. It claimed the exercise was being rushed to finalise electoral rolls before local body elections, compromising their accuracy.
Anandagiri's plea contended that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were overburdened and had not been given adequate time or resources to conduct physical verification. In several places, voters had allegedly been deleted despite having lived there for decades, without notice or an opportunity to be heard.
The plea sought a direction to the ECI to ensure that the SIR was conducted transparently, with proper publication of draft electoral rolls, sufficient time to file objections and reasoned orders for deletions.
The top court observed that electoral rolls were the bedrock of elections and that any flaws in them undermined democracy. It said it would examine whether the procedure prescribed by law was being followed in Maharashtra.
The court directed the ECI to file an affidavit explaining the SIR timeline and methodology, the number of BLOs and supervisors deployed, the training provided to them, and the steps taken to prevent wrongful deletions and bogus inclusions.
The bench listed the matter for hearing after two weeks and said it would consider granting interim relief if irregularities were found prima facie. The case could have implications for lakhs of voters in Maharashtra ahead of upcoming municipal corporation, municipal council and panchayat elections across the state.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that voters temporarily relocated during redevelopment in Mumbai and Pune had been deleted from the rolls as “person not found”.
"Many voters temporarily relocated during redevelopment in Mumbai and Pune have been deleted as person not found," he added, seeking acceptance of objections beyond Monday's deadline. He also flagged the absence of a separate form for existing voters seeking restoration.
The bench said it would consider extending the deadline after hearing the respondents. "We can always extend the date. If we find that there are people who are yet to file their documents, we will. We have been extending dates in earlier (SIR) matters also," the CJI said.
The ECI had earlier revised the schedule for the SIR exercise in Maharashtra. The deadline for filing claims and objections was extended from September 30 to October 12, while the final publication of the electoral rolls was rescheduled from November 4 to November 16, 2026.
The period for disposing of claims and objections by electors was scheduled to continue until November 10.
