Plea before Bombay High Court flags procedural violations in Maharashtra SIR

A petition has been filed before the Bombay High Court over the ongoing implementation of the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Maharashtra [Sagar Gawai v. Election Commission of India & Ors.]

The plea seeks the strict enforcement of statutory safeguards to prevent arbitrary exclusion of eligible voters. 

The petition has been filed by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) Youth President Sagar Ramesh Gawai and another individual alleging procedural violations during the door-to-door enumeration phase.

The petitioners have clarified that they do not seek to stall the election schedule, but are only demanding transparency and adherence to the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

The petition relies heavily on the recent Supreme Court ruling in Association for Democratic Reforms case to argue against unilateral voter deletions. 

As per the plea, Booth Level Officers are illegally demanding documents from citizens in violation of the ECI's own mandate under clause 2(d) which prohibits collection of documents during enumeration.

Another primary grievance involves the provisional marking of voters with absent, shifted, death or duplicate codes. 

The petition states that a missed home visit or an inability to trace a legacy roll entry cannot trigger automatic exclusion without a formal hearing and a speaking order by an Electoral Registration Officer.

The plea has additionally raised constitutional concerns regarding citizenship verification.

According to the petitioners, electoral officers cannot conclusively determine citizenship and must refer unresolved doubts to the appropriate central government authority.

The petition has been filed by Advocates Hemant Ghadigaonkar, Sandesh V More and Hitendra Gandhi.