ECI has to ensure strict adherence to law on electoral registration: HC
The Hindu
Court disposes of a PIL petition by Bengaluru-based Whitefield Rising Trust
The High Court of Karnataka on Friday said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) would have to strictly adhere to the provisions of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1950, in the process of registration of voters.
Making it clear that it cannot conduct a roving inquiry on correctness of inclusion of names of citizens in the voters’ list or the exclusion of the names, the court said the aggrieved people had remedies under the RP Act, 1950, to redress their grievances on registration or deletion of names in the list.
A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the order while disposing of a PIL petition filed in 2018 by city-based Whitefield Rising Trust. The petitioner had complained that a large number of residents in Whitefield and surrounding areas could not register their names in the voters’ list owing to deliberate inaction on the part of officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike in-charge of electoral registration process.