Bombay High Court to hear challenge over Maharashtra voter-roll revision

The Bombay High Court has agreed to hear a petition concerning the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Maharashtra. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna listed the matter for October 5. The petitioners told the court that the exercise raised questions about citizens’ rights and could lead to the deletion of 2.1 crore names from the State’s electoral rolls.

The petition does not seek to stop the revision. Instead, it asks authorities to disclose the order and reasons for conducting the exercise, the methodology being used and its legal basis. It also seeks safeguards to prevent eligible voters from being excluded and restoration of names that may have been removed.

The petition alleges that Booth-Level Officers asked citizens to provide documents while accepting enumeration forms. According to the petitioners, Election Commission instructions for Maharashtra do not allow documents to be collected during enumeration. They further argue that the Election Commission may conduct an assessment connected with elections but cannot determine citizenship.

The petition states that doubts over citizenship must be referred to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955. Any electoral consequence, it argues, should follow a decision by that authority. The source material does not indicate that the court has ruled on the merits of these claims.