Voters left off draft rolls trapped in ‘catch-22’ situation: Bombay HC's Goa bench
Court says eligible voters omitted during SIR face a 'catch-22' situation and stresses that no citizen should be excluded from the voters' list
Panaji, Oct 5 (PTI) The Bombay High Court in Goa on Monday said voters left out of the draft roll prepared under the SIR are caught in a "catch-22" situation as the Election commission of India (ECI) is not referring to the old rolls.
The HC's Goa bench noted that when a voter gets a notice from the ECI, he comes before the commission and says he has shifted residence and will submit Form 8 (application for shifting of residence/correction of entries in existing electoral roll/replacement of EPIC).
"You can't tell him, 'I will not hear you because the system doesn't allow you because he is not on the draft roll'," the court said.
A Division Bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar, hearing a writ petition, insisted no eligible voter should be left out of the electoral list.
The bench made the observations while hearing the writ petition filed by Goa resident Paresh Salgaonkar and his family members who were left out of the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise undertaken by the ECI.
The judges stated that the roll that is being referred in Section 21 (of the Representation of People Act) is the existing roll, not the draft one.
"Everything must be seen for the existing roll. Otherwise, the voter has absolutely no way out of this. It's a complete catch-22 situation for him," the bench observed.
The bench maintained that removing a voter's name from the draft roll means the ECI is "effectively removing him from the existing roll".
The judges said that apart from the obligations of BLOs (booth-level officers), the mandate given in para 5 of the order (related to SIR) says no citizen should be left out. "If you read para 8 of the order it says the commission has an obligation to ensure that only persons who are citizens are on the roll," they said.
"If by this process, if the citizens are excluded (from roll), then how do we raise this matter?," the bench questioned.
Advocate Gaurish Agni, representing the ECI, said the commission guidelines specifically say there is an earlier roll, which is in force.
During the hearing, the bench emphasised nobody should be left out of the voters' list.
The judge said all these things have to be read with the mandate given by the guidelines.
"The mandate given by the guidelines shows that if a voter is eligible, he or she should not be left out (of the list)," the court stated.
Advocate Agni argued that when a person moves from one constituency to another, he or she has the option of applying for the transfer of their EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card) to the current segment along with Form 8.
The court will continue hearing the arguments in the matter on Tuesday. PTI