Karnataka High Court stays probe into BJP agents’ Form 7 voter deletion cases

The Karnataka High Court has temporarily halted the investigation into criminal cases filed against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) agents in Bengaluru. These agents, known as Booth Level Agents (BLAs), are accused of submitting fraudulent Form 7 applications that seek the deletion of voters from the electoral rolls in two constituencies.

The stay in proceedings comes after a petition was filed by booth agents G S Vasanthalakshmi and Deepak Singh R. The court stated that a decision on the submitted Form 7 has not yet been made, and a prescribed procedure needs to be followed before any decision is taken. Form 7 is used for making an objection for the proposed inclusion or deletion of a name in the existing electoral roll.

The court has directed the state and the complainant, Anoop Iyengar, to file their statement of objections and the matter will be heard next month. The petitioners argued that the BLAs are authorized to file Form 7 and that registering an offense against them is premature. The complainant's lawyer alleged impersonation and the filing of bulk applications, which goes against the limit set by the Election Commission of India.

The police have registered cases against multiple BLAs in various constituencies across Karnataka since September 30, with allegations of mass submission of Form-7 applications that appear to be auto-populated.