New Delhi, Oct. 30 -- The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to investigate allegations of irregularities involving bulk submissions of Form 7 applications during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh and take corrective action.
Form 7 is used to request the deletion of a voter's name from the draft electoral roll.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the petitioners to submit a written note detailing the unresolved complaints to the poll panel. The court directed the ECI to examine the allegations, take necessary corrective measures and submit a compliance report.
Senior advocate DS Naidu, representing the commission, acknowledged that bulk applications had been received but said they were found to be false after verification. "Our officers checked and cross-checked them. They were false, and we have not acted upon them," Naidu told the bench.
However, counsel for one of the petitioners alleged that 32 Form 7 applications had been submitted in a single constituency to target members of a particular community. The bench asked the commission to examine the allegation.
The court was hearing petitions filed by Congress MP Tanuj Punia and others challenging the conduct of the SIR exercise in Uttar Pradesh.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.