Bombay High Court to hear plea seeking transparency in Maharashtra SIR

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An outer view of Bombay High Court. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Bombay High Court on Monday (September 28, 2026) agreed to hear a petition regarding the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Maharashtra. A Bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna posted the matter for hearing on October 5. 

The petitioners submitted that the matter raised an issue concerning citizens’ rights. Their counsel told the Bench that the exercise could result in the deletion of 2.1 crore names from the electoral rolls in the State. 

The petition does not seek to halt the SIR, but seeks disclosure of the order and the reasons recorded for undertaking the exercise in Maharashtra, as well as the methodology adopted and its basis in law. It also seeks safeguards against the exclusion of eligible voters and restoration of names that may have been deleted. 

The plea alleges that Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) have been asking citizens to furnish documents when accepting enumeration forms, even though the Election Commission’s (EC) instructions for Maharashtra do not permit the collection of documents during the enumeration process. 

The petition further contends that while the EC may undertake an assessment in connection with elections, it cannot determine citizenship. Where doubts over citizenship remain, the matter must be referred to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955, and any electoral consequence must follow that authority’s decision, the petition states. 

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