Pleas seek restoration of deleted voters, disclosure of EC decisions and independent probe into alleged data deletions
SEPTEMBER 25, 2026: The controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Maharashtra’s electoral rolls has moved to the Bombay High Court, with two writ petitions challenging the exercise and seeking the restoration of voters whose names were deleted from the draft rolls.
The petitions were filed after an Indian Express investigation reported that two Election Commissioners had recorded objections to decisions taken during the SIR process. One of the petitions, filed before the Kolhapur Bench by four Maharashtra residents through advocate Asim Sarode, challenges 14 administrative decisions and modifications and seeks disclosure of the recorded dissents of the Election Commissioners.
The petitioners have sought the restoration of every voter deleted during the Maharashtra SIR process, besides asking the court to quash the SIR directions for the state if they are found legally unsustainable.
The plea also seeks the constitution of an independent judicial committee to investigate alleged data deletions and software blockages connected with the current SIR exercise. It further asks for the 14 decisions concerning SIR, criteria for polling-station rationalisation and ECINET specifications to be placed on record.
The challenge comes against the backdrop of findings that have raised questions over the scale and nature of voter exclusions in Maharashtra. An Indian Express analysis of constituency-level data found that in 25 of Maharashtra’s 288 Assembly constituencies, more than 85 per cent of the names excluded from the SIR draft roll were classified as either “permanently shifted” or “untraceable/absent.” In 10 constituencies, the proportion exceeded 90 per cent, with Kalyan Rural recording the highest share at 94.7 per cent.
The second petition, filed by two Mumbai residents through advocate Hitendra Gandhi, raises separate concerns about the methodology used in the exercise, including the collection of documents during enumeration and exclusion based on an “uncollectible” status.
It seeks publication of the reasons for undertaking the SIR, the methodology used to classify voters under the Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) categories and details of the ECINET specifications. The petitioners have also sought a direction that no voter be excluded without statutory notice, an opportunity of hearing and a reasoned order.
The legal challenge follows an Indian Express investigation that reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over a period of 10 months to decisions taken by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The objections reportedly concerned matters including voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, electoral-roll databases and other aspects of the election process.
The petitioners have also sought disclosure of these recorded disagreements, arguing that the manner in which electoral-roll decisions were taken raises questions requiring judicial scrutiny. These are allegations and claims made in the petitions; the Bombay High Court has not yet adjudicated their merits.
The Kolhapur Bench is expected to consider the petition on September 28. The petitions therefore place the Maharashtra SIR process directly before the judiciary at a time when the integrity, transparency and methodology of electoral-roll revision are under heightened public scrutiny.
For millions of voters, the issue is ultimately stark: if a name disappears from the electoral roll, what safeguards exist to ensure that an eligible citizen can get it back before an election?
That question is now before the Bombay High Court.
JANPATH NEWS NETWORK (JNN)
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