Court says software cannot override legal procedure during SIR
Form 8 SIR
Goa bench of the Bombay High Court has challenged the Election Commission on deletion of voters for SIR.
The dispute is related to a family residing in the Santa Cruz Assembly constituency of Goa.
The Paresh Salgaonkar family had changed their residence.
They are alleged to have changed residence within the same Assembly constituency.
The Paresh Salgaonkar family applied form 8 to change their address.
Their names were however left out of the voter list.
This was attributed to the problem in the software used by the Commission.
The software could not accept forms 8 during enumeration for SIR.
The family was required to file form 6 instead.
The question raised was why existing voters should fill forms like new voters.
The software issue was also raised by the bench.
The software could not supersede the statutory procedure in any way.
Questions were posed regarding how deletion can be done without holding a hearing.
Also questioned was whether the concerned voters were allowed to give responses.
The bench stated that officials have to use their discretion regarding the law.
They are not supposed to make decisions based on the software alone.
Also brought up by the court were other related issues regarding shifted voters.
The bench pointed out that many voters will suffer under such processes.
The case involved the functionality of the electoral roll software.
Clarification was required from the Election Commission regarding the process.
The matter will be continued in the next hearing.
