Can’t interfere in Election Commission’s order: Hyderabad HC on revision of photo electoral rolls

HYDERABAD:  The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday made it clear that it would not intervene in the decision taken by the State electoral officer to advance the special summary revision (SSR) of photo electoral rolls. A division bench of the court dismissed a PIL filed seeking a stay on the ongoing SSR, with a qualifying date of January 1, 2018, instead of January 1, 2019.

“When a State is under a caretaker government, it is the duty of the Election Commission of India to conduct elections in that State as early as possible,” the bench observed. The bench dismissed the PIL filed by Komireddy Krishna Vijay Azad, against the notification issued by the State chief electoral officer.

The petitioner’s counsel told the court that nearly 60 lakh voters were missing from the voters' list and many new voters who had turned 18 as on Jan 1, 2019, would lose the chance to vote due to the election commission’s decision. “If the current SSR, as on January 2018 was only revised, voters will not get sufficient time to file their claims, objections, and concerned officials will not be able to dispose of the claims within such a short time. 

The bench said that the ECI had taken the decision to have a special summary of electoral rolls in all states and Uts, except Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan, with reference to Jan 1, 2019. “The ECI has taken all aspects into consideration before ordering the SSR. The Constitution does not embolden the judiciary to see that the caretaker government be permitted to continue until the finalization of voters’ list and further push the elections to a later date, the bench said.