Karnataka HC Adjourns Ramachandra Guha PIL on Electoral Roll Revision to July 28

The Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru on Monday adjourned to July 28 the hearing on a public interest litigation seeking directions to the Election Commission of India to extend the timeline for each phase of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Karnataka from one month to three months.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice KS Hemalekha briefly heard submissions presented by senior advocate Vikram Huilgol, who appeared on behalf of the petitioners. During the Monday hearing, the Bench sought clarification regarding certain Supreme Court guidelines concerning the Special Intensive Revision exercise. Senior advocate Huilgol requested time until July 28 to place the relevant guidelines before the court, after which the Bench adjourned the proceedings.

The public interest litigation has been filed jointly by writer Devanura Mahadeva, historian Ramachandra Guha, Major General (Retd.) SG Vombatkere, and Sabiha Bhoomigowda, the former Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women’s University.

In the petition, the four petitioners have sought specific directions to the Election Commission of India to establish functional voter facilitation centres at every polling booth, contending that the existing centres remain inadequate to assist citizens during the revision process.

They have also urged the High Court to direct the Election Commission of India to publish a comprehensive set of criteria that could result in a voter being flagged for a logical discrepancy, such as minor spelling errors or age mismatches. The plea states that no voter should be flagged or excluded on such grounds without receiving prior notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond to the authorities.

The petition further seeks explicit clarification from the Election Commission of India on what constitutes the "others" category under the broader classifications of absentee, shifted, dead, and duplicate voters. It requests that no elector be removed from the draft electoral rolls under this category without specific reasons being recorded and formally communicated to the voter concerned.

Additionally, the petitioners have requested the court to direct the Karnataka state government not to discontinue any social welfare benefits to individuals whose names may not appear in the final electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision exercise.