Stories
Missing from draft SIR roll doesn't mean voter deletion: ECI tells Bombay High Court
- •The Election Commission of India clarified to the Bombay High Court that a voter name missing from the draft Special Intensive Revision roll is not automatically deleted.
- •The submission was made during a petition hearing by six family members from Goa who claimed their names were removed during the revision exercise.
- •The ECI explained that SIR involves a fresh preparation of electoral rolls from the ground up through intensive enumeration, unlike a summary revision.
- •The petitioner argued that their address-change application was rejected just after the deadline for filing objections to the draft roll expired.
- •After hearing arguments from both sides, the bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar reserved its verdict.
Key Questions Answered
The Election Commission of India stated that a voter's name missing from the draft Special Intensive Revision roll does not automatically mean it has been deleted, as the SIR process rebuilds electoral rolls afresh from the ground up rather than merely updating an existing list.
A Special Summary Revision updates an existing electoral roll based on information gathered through standard procedures, whereas a Special Intensive Revision is a comprehensive de novo exercise that rebuilds the electoral roll afresh through an intensive enumeration process.
Six members of a family from Goa’s St Cruz constituency filed a writ petition claiming that their names were removed from the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision exercise after their address-change applications faced delays and subsequent rejections.
