New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (October 26) issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a petition challenging the Special Intensive
Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra. The poll body has been asked to file its response by November 5. During the hearing, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked whether any other matter related to the issue was pending. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for petitioner Arun Anandagiri, said he had raised the issue during the previous hearing and urged the court to ensure that the electoral rolls were not finalised before November. “I mentioned on last occasion. Let them not finalize list by November. Let them postpone,” Datar submitted. The CJI subsequently said, “Issue notice. We will hear on November 5.” Datar also argued that time would be needed to restore the names of deleted voters and pointed out that there was no immediate election requiring the process to be completed urgently. “Some time may be needed to bring the deleted people back. There's no immediate election,” he told the court.
‘33% Struck Off Completely’: Datar Raises Concerns Over Maharashtra SIR
During the hearing, Datar submitted that around 33 per cent of the state’s nine crore voters had been struck off the electoral rolls.
“Out of 9 crore, 33% struck off completely,” he said.
Raising concerns over the impact of the revision in major urban centres, Datar claimed that in Pune and Mumbai, “40% voters are not there”. He also questioned the requirement for voters to submit Form 6 to register again, arguing that there was no provision for people who had voted in three or four previous elections.
“People asked to file Form 6, there's no provision for person who is voter for 3-4 elections,” Datar told the court.
What Does The Petition Seek?
The petition challenges the SIR process currently underway in Maharashtra pursuant to the Election Commission’s order dated May 14, 2026. It seeks a declaration that the revision process is arbitrary, unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21, read with Articles 324 and 326 of the Constitution.
The petitioner has also sought a writ of mandamus or other appropriate directions to prevent the revision of electoral rolls in Maharashtra from being carried out in the manner currently being followed under the May 14 order.
The Supreme Court has sought the ECI’s response by November 5. The petition raises concerns over the manner in which the electoral roll revision is being conducted and seeks to halt the process in its present form.
