Panaji: The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday said that voters left out of the draft electoral roll were caught in a “catch-22 situation”, as the Election Commission was not referring to the existing roll.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar continued hearing the writ petition filed by Goa citizen Paresh Salgaonkar and his family members, whose names were left out of the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The Bench observed that when a voter receives a notice and approaches the Commission stating that he has shifted residence and wishes to submit Form 8, he cannot be told that his case cannot be heard because the system does not allow it since his name is not on the draft roll.
“You can’t tell him, ‘I will not hear you because the system doesn’t allow you,’ because he is not on the draft roll,” the court observed.
The judges stated that the roll referred to under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act is the existing roll and not the draft roll.
“Everything must be seen with reference to the existing roll. Otherwise, the voter has absolutely no way out of this. It’s a complete catch-22 situation for him,” the Bench observed.
The Bench further noted that removing a voter from the draft roll effectively amounts to removing that voter from the existing roll.
The judges said that apart from the obligations of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), the mandate under Paragraph 5 of the guidelines states that no citizen should be left out. They also noted that Paragraph 8 of the guidelines says that the Commission has a constitutional obligation to ensure that only citizens are included in the electoral roll.
“If, through this process, citizens are excluded, then how do we address this issue?” the Bench questioned.
Advocate Gaurish Agni, representing the Election Commission of India (ECI), submitted that the guidelines specifically acknowledge the existence of the earlier roll, which remains in force.
During the hearing, the Bench reiterated that no eligible voter should be left out of the electoral roll.
The judges said that all provisions must be read in conjunction with the mandate contained in the guidelines.
“The mandate given by the guidelines shows that if a voter is eligible, he or she should not be left out,” the court stated.
Advocate Agni further submitted that when a person moves from one constituency to another, he or she has the option of applying for the transfer of their Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) to the new constituency along with Form 8.
