Lucknow: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court rejected a public interest litigation seeking the implementation of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for the upcoming three tier Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, holding that there was no justification for judicial interference in the ongoing voter revision process.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh dismissed the petition filed by Narendra Kumar Tripathi of Sant Kabir Nagar, observing that the procedure adopted by the State Election Commission was already underway and followed due process.
The court noted that the SIR exercise had commenced on July 18, and the provisional voter list is scheduled to be published on December 23. It held that the plea to extend guidelines framed for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to Panchayat polls could not be a valid ground for court intervention. Terming the petition devoid of merit, the bench dismissed it.
Meanwhile, the voter revision exercise for the Panchayat elections has led to a substantial reshaping of the electorate.
During the revision drive, 1,81,96,367 new voters were added, while 1,41,76,809 names were deleted from the rolls.
State Election Commissioner R P Singh said the net increase in voters stood at 40,19,558, reflecting a growth of 3.26 per cent compared to the previous list. The total number of voters has risen from 12,29,50,052 to 12,69,69,610.
He said the deleted entries included names of deceased persons, displaced voters and duplicate registrations, with duplicate voters accounting for the largest share at 53,67,410.