सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने दिल्ली के SIR में मतदाता हटाने के विवाद को सुनवाई में प्राथमिकता दी

The Supreme Court on Thursday (September 17, 2026) agreed to give “precedence” in hearing to a writ petition raising discrepancies in the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Delhi, including the removal of lakhs of voters from the draft roll for nebulous reasons.

“We will list it on Monday (September 21, 2026). Such matters will have precedence,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said.

The CJI was reacting to an oral mentioning by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi of a petition filed by activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri.

The plea flagged that apart from the more than 47 lakh names that have been removed as per the draft roll, the Election Commission of India (ECI) was preparing notices to 33 lakh people on two grounds: logical discrepancies and mapping.

“Out of 97,53,577 electors who are listed on the draft Delhi SIR roll after the enumeration phase, 33,12,919 electors (33.96%) are being issued notices after being identified for either having no mapping (13,79,785) or for logical discrepancies (19,33,134). However, the respondents (Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi) have failed to publish the list of electors to whom notices have been issued along with the specific basis thereof, contrary to the procedure,” the petition said.

‘Logical discrepancies’

The petition said the term ‘logical discrepancies’ has neither been defined by the EC nor has any specific criteria or parameters to determine the circumstances in which an elector would fall within that category. No document or instruction has been placed on the website.

In the West Bengal SIR, ‘logical discrepancies’ could include anything from improbable family age gaps and changing parent names to entries backed by only Aadhaar. ‘Mapping’ meant the exercise of verifying voters’ details with earlier records or their families’ generational voting data gleaned from previous electoral rolls.

“This lack of information would make the notice process susceptible to arbitrary and inconsistent application. It would also deprive the elector of a meaningful opportunity to understand and rebut,” Mr. Bhushan submitted.

He said the actual notices being issued were “completely vague and devoid of specific facts or grounds”.

With the notice phase for Delhi SIR concluding on October 29, the issuance of vague notices would make lakhs of electors vulnerable to an arbitrary process of potential disenfranchisement.

What petitioners are seeking

The petition urged the Supreme Court to direct the respondents to forthwith place in the public domain, including on the Chief Electoral Officer’s website and on notice boards of local bodies, the list of all electors issued notices during the SIR exercise.

It further sought that the respondents publish, including on their official websites, the criteria/definitions, algorithmic parameters, and operational guidelines governing the classification of electors under ‘logical discrepancies’.

The plea said election authorities must place on public record the precise discrepancy and material facts and particulars forming the basis of the notices being issued so as to enable the elector to avail of an effective and meaningful opportunity to participate in the hearing process.

Published - September 17, 2026 12:11 pm IST

Powered by Nyaya 247 News