Supreme Court Questions ECI Over Notice Issuance Process

The Supreme Court has raised concerns over the manner in which notices are being issued to voters under the “logical discrepancy” category during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Delhi. The bench observed that the notices appeared to be going out almost mechanically and asked the Election Commission of India to examine whether additional safeguards or filters were required before issuing them. The court also sought clarity on the criteria and basis used to classify voters under the logical discrepancy category.

The observations came during the hearing of a public interest petition filed by Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, said notices had been issued to more than 33 lakh voters in Delhi and questioned the disclosure of the reasons and criteria behind them. Representing the Election Commission, senior advocate D.S. Naidu said the petitioners had not cited specific instances supporting their claims and maintained that voters were being informed of the reasons for the notices. The poll panel told the court that around 15,000 Booth Level Officers and 1,200 Electoral Registration Officers had been deployed to handle the process.