Supreme Court schedules hearing on Maharashtra voter roll deletions ahead of final roll release

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Election Commission of India and the Maharashtra government to answer a petition that seeks to halt the deletion of voters in the state’s special intensive revision (SIR). The petition, filed by chartered accountant and journalist Arun Anandagiri and presented by senior advocate Arvind Datar, claims that redevelopment projects in Mumbai and Pune displaced residents who were then recorded as "not found" and removed from the electoral roll, affecting roughly 3 crore individuals.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, scheduled a hearing for Nov 5, a day before the poll panel is set to publish the final state roll after considering claims and objections. The court indicated it would consider an interim direction to pause the exercise after hearing the other side. The petition alleges that over 40% of voters in Mumbai, 2.86 million in Pune, 2.85 million in Thane and 1.4 million in Nagpur were removed. This case is part of a larger set of challenges to the SIR framework, including petitions by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other opposition figures, and follows criticism that the roll-cleaning drive benefits the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.