Supreme Court Urges Election Commission to Consider Voter Roll Deadline Extensions

Supreme Court's Appeal to the Election Commission

On Thursday, the Supreme Court called on the Election Commission to thoughtfully evaluate requests for extending the deadline for submitting enumeration forms related to the ongoing voter roll revision in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.

During the proceedings, Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard from advocate Kapil Sibal, who noted that approximately 2.5 million names have been removed from the electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh alone.

Sibal highlighted discrepancies, stating, "In some instances, the husband's name appears while the wife's does not."

The counsel representing the Election Commission opposed the plea, asserting that extensions had already been provided.

The counsel remarked, "The Election Commission is monitoring the situation and will extend the time as necessary. Therefore, if two weeks are granted now, further extensions are still possible."

The deadline for Kerala has already been postponed twice, first from December 4 to December 11, and then to December 18, with the draft voter list now set to be published on December 23.

In Uttar Pradesh, the revised enumeration period is set to conclude on December 26, with draft rolls expected by December 31.

The Supreme Court has permitted petitioners to present their cases to the Election Commission and instructed the body to make a decision considering all relevant factors and circumstances.

The court has scheduled a hearing regarding the constitutionality of the voter roll revision for January 6.

On December 11, the Election Commission extended the timelines for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in six of the twelve states and Union Territories involved in the process, including Uttar Pradesh.

Kerala was among the states where the timelines were not extended.

The draft list in West Bengal was published recently, revealing that over 5.8 million voters were removed from the rolls due to reasons such as death, migration, or failure to submit enumeration forms.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed prior to the Assembly elections in November, around 4.7 million voters were excluded from the final electoral roll published on September 30.

Concerns were raised in Bihar regarding the potential removal of eligible voters from the rolls, prompting several petitioners to approach the Supreme Court.