Bombay HC orders EC to restore names of 6 Goa voters deleted during SIR drive

The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed a petition filed by a Goa resident and five members of his family whose names were omitted from the electoral rolls despite submitting Form 8 applications to update their residential addresses.Directing the Election Commission to include their names in the electoral roll within 10 days after verifying their addresses, the bench rejected the poll body's request to stay the order to enable it to approach the Supreme Court.A division bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar clarified that the matter was distinct from the broader legal issues surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently being heard by the Supreme Court.Advocate Gaurish Agni, appearing for the Election Commission, sought a stay on the order, stating that the poll body wanted to challenge it before the Supreme Court. However, the High Court declined the request. "We are allowing the petition. The Supreme Court is hearing the SIR issue, this is not about SIR," the bench observed while pronouncing its decision.The petition was filed by Paresh Vasant Salgaonkar and five members of his family, residents of the Santa Cruz Assembly constituency in North Goa. The family had shifted to a new address within the same constituency before the enumeration phase of the SIR.Following instructions from their local Booth Level Officer (BLO), they submitted Form 8 applications to update their residential details. However, their names were missing when the draft electoral roll was published.The family subsequently received automated notifications informing them that their Form 8 applications had been rejected by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), after the deadline for filing claims and objections had passed.The ECI asked the family to submit Form 6 applications instead, as their names were no longer present in the draft roll.The petitioners challenged this requirement, arguing that Form 6 is meant for first-time voters and would require already registered electors to make an incorrect declaration.In contrast, Form 8 is prescribed for existing voters seeking changes, including an address update.During the proceedings, the ECI maintained that the SIR was a fresh, de novo exercise and differed from the regular Special Summary Revision.It argued that since enumeration slips were not completed at the family's previous address, its software could not map their Form 8 applications against existing Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) records, resulting in automated rejections.The petitioners contended that procedural and software-related difficulties should not deprive existing voters of their electoral rights.With the High Court refusing to stay its directions, the Election Commission will now have to verify the family's new address and complete their enrolment within the stipulated 10-day period.The order also brings relief to the family, which had challenged the absence of a legally appropriate mechanism to restore its names in the electoral roll.- Ends