SC to hear on Sep 22 plea against Delhi SIR exercise

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said that the plea would be taken up on September 22 along with other SIR matters already pending before the court, while giving the fresh petition precedence

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to urgently hear a fresh challenge to the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of Delhi’s electoral rolls, with the petition questioning why the names of nearly 33.13 lakh voters issued notices for “logical discrepancies” or lack of mapping have not been made public and what precisely triggered such notices.

The petition, filed by activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri through advocate Prashant Bhushan, comes against the backdrop of the exclusion of 47.56 lakh names from Delhi’s draft electoral roll published on August 31.

Mentioning the matter before the CJI, Bhushan said the 47 lakh-plus exclusions were only one part of the exercise, with the authorities now proposing to issue notices to another 33 lakh voters whose names figure in the draft roll but have been flagged under the categories of “no papping” and “logical discrepancies”.

“They have not disclosed the names of people which is why some people get notices and some do not. They have also not disclosed the basis of putting them under the logical discrepancy category,” Bhushan contended.

The CJI said the matter would be heard on Tuesday, September 22, when other SIR-related cases are also listed, adding that the fresh plea “will certainly have precedence” as it was a new matter.