‘What is the glitch?’: HC asks Election Commission after six names removed from Goa electoral rolls

The High Court of Bombay at Goa has questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the deletion of six family members' names from the electoral rolls. The petitioners, Paresh Salgaonkar and five family members, had moved to a new house in the same Santa Cruz Assembly constituency before the Service Immigration Registration (SIR) process began.

When processing the change of address forms, errors occurred as no record of their Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) were found, and the only available option in the ERONET system was to reject the applications. The court ruled that Form 6, 7, or 8 cannot be used for deletion of names from the electoral rolls as they are specifically designed for new voters, those who have lost the right to vote, or individuals shifting residence within the same Assembly constituency.

The bench expressed concern over the lack of explanation from the ECI and questioned the authority of the Commission to delete names without a hearing.