SC orders ECI probe into mass Form-7 deletion applications in UP SIR
New Delhi, October 30: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to investigate and take necessary corrective steps into the alleged irregularities in the large number of Form-7 applications submitted for deletion of names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Uttar Pradesh.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant passed the order while hearing petitions filed by Congress MP Tanuj Punia and the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Arvind Kumar Singh. The petitioners’ counsel told the court that 32 Form-7 applications, two of which were signed by booth level officers (BLOs), were submitted in bulk to target voters from a particular community in a constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Senior advocate D.S. Naidu, representing the ECI, acknowledged that a large number of Form-7 applications had been received. However, he clarified that after investigation, all of these applications were found to be fraudulent, and the Commission had not removed any valid voter from the list based on them.
The court directed the petitioners to submit a complete note of all pending or unresolved irregularities to the Election Commission’s senior counsel. The Election Commission will then thoroughly investigate these facts, make the necessary corrections, and submit its compliance report to the court. The court also reiterated that voter list corrections are an ongoing process, and if any genuine voter has been left out, they can submit an application to the Commission.
