New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission (EC) to investigate complaints that large numbers of Form 7 applications were submitted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, amid claims that the exercise was being misused to strike off legitimate voters, especially from minority communities.
Form 7 is the official application through which a person’s name can be removed from the voters’ list.
Hearing a set of petitions, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi observed that the allegations warranted urgent scrutiny and asked the EC to identify irregularities and remedy them.
The petitioners contended that thousands of deletion requests had been lodged, often allegedly using forged signatures and without the knowledge of the voters concerned, as reported by The New Indian Express.
They further alleged that the applications were concentrated against minority electors in multiple districts, and that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had accepted them without serving the mandatory notices required before any name could be removed.
Terming the claims grave, the court warned that such lapses could deprive citizens of their right to vote. “The EC must examine and take corrective steps. The EC must ensure deletion only after notice and hearing to voter. SIR should result in inclusive and accurate rolls, not deletion of genuine voters through bulk Form 7,” it said.
The Bench asked the petitioners to place before the EC, within seven days, a district-wise account of complaints that remain unaddressed. It also instructed the Commission to curb any abuse of Form 7 and proceed against persons found to have filed false deletion requests.
The EC told the court it would review the grievances and submit a report confirming compliance within a fortnight. The case will now come up for hearing after two weeks.
The Commission began the SIR in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls to revise the electoral rolls by deleting entries relating to voters who have died, shifted residence or are registered more than once.
NIA Loses Bail Challenge
In a separate matter, the Supreme Court rejected the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) attempt to overturn the bail granted to Jammu and Kashmir-based human rights activist Khuram Parvez in a case registered under the anti-terror law. Parvez was taken into custody by the NIA on November 22, 2021, while the Delhi High Court had released him on bail on June 10.
