The Supreme Court of India, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, has taken a pivotal step in addressing concerns over duplicate entries in electoral rolls. The Court issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Samvidhan Bachao Trust, an NGO, highlighting the urgency of this issue.
Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing the petitioner, brought to light the shortcomings in the current process of updating electoral rolls. She pointed out that while the rolls are regularly updated to remove names of deceased individuals or those who have relocated, the issue of duplicate entries remains unaddressed. Arora emphasized,
“Everyone who has died, those who have shifted – their names get removed. But there is duplication which nothing was done about. This exercise was to be carried from July-August 2023.”
Initially, Chief Justice Chandrachud questioned the need for the Court’s intervention, suggesting,
“Why should we intervene? Go to election commission.”
However, Arora responded by highlighting her multiple unsuccessful representations to the ECI. She drew attention to the format used in Uttar Pradesh for updating electoral rolls, which did not include provisions for dealing with duplicate entries.
“The format of UP – It shows that there was nothing related to duplication. Duplication was not addressed,”
she stated.
The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, acknowledged the issue’s significance. It deferred issuing notice to the Election Commission and State Chief Electoral Officers, deciding it would be more appropriate to direct a copy of the petition to be served to Mr. Amit Sharma, standing counsel for the ECI. The Supreme Court has set the date to hear the matter on November 27, marking a critical step towards enhancing the accuracy and integrity of India’s electoral rolls.