MUMBAI: A petition filed before the Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay high court has sought the restoration of voters deleted from Maharashtra’s electoral rolls during the latest Special Intensive Revision (SIR), along with the quashing of 14 administrative orders passed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, according to Bar and Bench.Filed by three Maharashtra residents, the petition alleges that several decisions taken by the ECI and Kumar were made unilaterally and challenges the manner in which the poll panel handled voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, electoral-roll data, the functioning of Electoral Registration Officers and software-related processes.The plea refers to a recent Indian Express report that said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on at least 14 occasions over various decisions and administrative processes of the ECI.The petitioners contend that these objections included issues related to voter registration and deletion, restoration of names and the electoral-roll database. They have argued that the ECI failed to discharge its functions in accordance with Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023.The plea also challenges changes made to Form 6 in July this year and seeks a stay on the SIR process in Maharashtra.Besides restoration of deleted voter names, the petitioners have sought an independent judicial committee headed by a retired High Court judge to investigate alleged data deletions and software blockages during the SIR exercise.The petition also seeks directions to postpone the upcoming Assembly elections in all states where SIR was conducted until fresh electoral rolls are prepared and approved in accordance with law.(With Bar and Bench inputs)
