SC flags ‘mechanical’ SIR notices in Delhi, asks Election Commission to add safeguards

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 22) told the Election Commission that notices under Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Delhi are going to people "almost mechanically" and it should look for some additional safeguards.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana told the poll panel that the basis for identifying a "logical discrepancy" required clarification.

"The notices are going to people almost mechanically. Just look whether some additional safeguards are needed. The basis for identifying logical discrepancy also needs clarification," the bench told senior advocate DS Naidu, appearing for the EC.

The bench was hearing a petition alleging the failure of the EC and the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer to adequately disclose the names of voters issued notices and the specific reasons for issuing them.

‘Process going on in shocking manner’: Petitioners

During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the process was going on in a "shocking" manner as over 33 lakh voters got notices on flimsy reasons.

Bhushan submitted that the notices were creating practical difficulties for voters because they required them to produce any of the 12 prescribed documents to address discrepancies.

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Naidu countered the submission that petitioners have not disclosed any specific instances and assured the court that the poll panel has increased the manpower to deal with the workload and that reasons had been assigned in the notices. He said that ECI has issued a press note recently and clarified several issues, which are being raised by the petitioners.

EC’s assurance to court

The bench then asked how many Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had been deployed to deal with the large number of notices.

"You have sent about 30 lakh notices. How many BLOs are deployed?" Justice Bagchi asked.

Naidu said around 14,000-15,000 BLOs and 1,200 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) had been deployed for the exercise. He added that October 29 was the deadline for filing claims and objections as of now, but the ECI was open to an extension if the process was not completed as Delhi is not an election-bound state.

He further assured the bench that "not a single genuine voter would be deleted in the exercise".

CJI Kant said these 14,000-15,000 BLOs deployed in the exercise can also assist the people to respond to the notices and complete the process.

Bhushan, however, questioned why a person who had already submitted an enumeration form and produced proof of age and residence should be required to furnish further material.

Also Read: Why SY Quraishi has questions on basic premise and legal standing of SIR

The Chief Justice observed that the Delhi situation could be unique because of its large migrant population.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, also appearing in the matter, said that Delhi has multi-storeyed buildings and doubted whether BLOs would go visit every house in the buildings.

Naidu submitted that the ECI was conducting camps and sensitisation programmes and had created WhatsApp groups to assist voters.

Justice Bagchi suggested that BLOs could be made available at ward offices so that voters could approach them directly.

Earlier, Bhushan had told the court that the ECI has issued notices to 33 lakhs of the 47 lakhs people whose names have been deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR exercise in the national capital.

‘Violation of fundamental rights’

The petitioners have also sought a disclosure of the criteria, definitions, algorithmic parameters, and operational guidelines governing the classification of voters under the "Logical Discrepancies" category.

The plea filed under Article 32 of the Constitution has alleged violations of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, and 21, besides the constitutional rights under Articles 325 and 326.

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The petitioners have sought directions for the publication of a consolidated, searchable list of all the voters against whom notices have been issued during the SIR process in Delhi, along with their addresses and the specific reasons or categories for each notice.

The plea further seeks directions requiring authorities to specify the precise discrepancy and material facts forming the basis of each notice, so that the voters can effectively participate in the hearing process. It has also sought to restrain the deletion of names from the electoral rolls following proceedings based on vague notices that do not disclose the relevant factual particulars.

47 lakh voters deleted from draft rolls

On August 31, the EC published a draft electoral rolls under which 47 lakh voters were deleted from the list of 1.45 crore total voters.

Around one in three voters in Delhi was removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list.

Also Read: Delhi SIR: SC to hear plea against deletion of names from electoral rolls on Sept 21

The poll panel had said more than 43.32 lakh voters were found to have shifted or were absent during the SIR, over 2.82 lakh voters were found to have died, while more than 1.41 lakh were enrolled at multiple places.

(With agency inputs)