New Delhi: Several serving and retired IAS and IPS officers, including senior government officials, have been issued notices under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi over discrepancies in their voter details or failure to establish a link with the previous intensive revision roll.
Among the prominent names are Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and CBI Director Praveen Sood. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and former Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi are also among those whose names have figured in the notice process.
The development comes after the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office identified electors whose details either could not be mapped to the previous SIR electoral roll or showed what the Election Commission describes as “logical discrepancies”. More than 31.63 lakh notices have been served so far, while 33.13 lakh electors have been identified for notices after publication of the draft rolls.
Importantly, the issuance of a notice does not by itself mean that an elector’s name has been deleted from the electoral roll. The Delhi CEO has said that notices are part of the verification and correction process and that no name can be deleted without giving the elector an opportunity to be heard and a proper appealable order.
Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu’s Name Flagged
Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu is among the most prominent officials whose name appeared in the list generated during the SIR exercise.
Sandhu was identified for issuance of a notice because of a discrepancy in his name. However, officials subsequently verified his documents, and his entry has been validated for inclusion in the final electoral roll.
The case illustrates that appearing in the notice list does not necessarily indicate that an elector is ineligible. The purpose of the notice is to enable verification and correction where the information submitted during the enumeration process does not match the relevant electoral records.
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CBI Director Praveen Sood Also Among Those Flagged
CBI Director Praveen Sood is another serving senior police officer whose voter details could not be mapped with the previous SIR roll.
His name appears among the senior government officials identified for notices during the exercise. Reports also said that Sood’s wife Vanita Sood and mother Kamlesh Sood were issued notices.
The notices are connected to the electoral-roll verification exercise and do not, by themselves, indicate any finding regarding the eligibility of the individuals concerned.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Other Senior Officials
The list of officials affected by the notice process extends beyond the police and election administration.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is among the serving senior government officials whose name has been identified for a notice. Other prominent officials and former officials include:
- Former JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar
- Former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung
- Former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya
- SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey
- Former Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi
Several other serving and retired bureaucrats are also included in the list of electors flagged for discrepancies or mapping issues.
S Jaishankar and Wife Receive Notices
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his wife Kyoko Jaishankar have also received notices under the SIR exercise.
The couple are registered voters in the Sunehri Bagh area of the New Delhi Assembly constituency. Their entries were categorised as “unmapped with last SIR”, indicating that their current electoral records could not be linked to the corresponding records from the previous intensive revision conducted in 2002.
The “unmapped” category does not itself establish that a voter is ineligible. The concerned elector is given an opportunity to provide the necessary information and supporting documents for verification.
LK Advani, Family Members Also Issued Notices
Former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani is another prominent name appearing in the notice list.
Advani, along with his daughter Pratibha and daughter-in-law Geetika, received notices after their names could not be mapped to the 2002 SIR electoral roll. His son Jayant, however, cleared the mapping exercise.
The family members are voters in the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
The Election Commission’s verification process is intended to establish the connection between current voter entries and the relevant previous electoral records wherever such mapping is required.
Jagdeep Dhankhar and Wife Also Served Notices
Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife Sudesh have also been served notices.
Their voter records carry the address of the Vice-President’s residence. Their inclusion in the notice process is part of the broader exercise covering electors whose details have been identified for verification.
The list therefore includes voters from different categories, including serving officials, former constitutional functionaries, politicians and ordinary electors.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, Arvind Kejriwal Among Political Names
The SIR notice list also includes prominent political figures.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and AAP national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been issued notices over discrepancies identified in their enumeration forms.
Gupta’s entry has reportedly been validated after verification of documents, with her name earmarked for inclusion in the final electoral roll for the Shalimar Bagh constituency. Kejriwal and members of his family have also been issued notices as part of the verification exercise.
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is another prominent name in the list. His wife Seema and son Meer have also received notices. Officials said different discrepancies were cited in the notices issued to members of the family, including issues relating to names and parent details.
Kapil Sibal Among Those in ‘Unmapped’ Category
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal and his wife have also been issued notices under the “unmapped with last SIR” category.
Sibal has publicly criticised the process and characterised the SIR in political terms. The Election Commission and Delhi CEO’s office, however, have described the notices as part of the system-generated process for identifying and correcting discrepancies in electoral data.
The notices are therefore not limited to one political party or category of public figure; they have been issued to a wide range of electors whose records require verification.
What Is the Delhi SIR Notice Process?
The Special Intensive Revision involves verification of electoral-roll entries through enumeration forms and subsequent scrutiny of the information supplied by electors.
The draft electoral roll containing more than 97 lakh voters was published after the enumeration exercise. According to the Delhi CEO’s office, 33.13 lakh electors were identified for notices because of discrepancies in the information provided in their enumeration forms. More than 31.63 lakh notices had been served as of the latest update.
A significant portion of the notices relates to the inability to establish a corresponding entry in the previous SIR roll prepared in 2002.
The other category involves what officials describe as “logical discrepancies” in the information furnished by electors.
The notices are system-generated and are intended to provide electors an opportunity to correct or substantiate their details through the prescribed process.
Notice Does Not Mean Automatic Deletion
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer has specifically clarified that receiving an SIR notice does not mean that an elector’s name will automatically be removed from the electoral roll.
The CEO’s office has said that no name can be deleted without giving the concerned elector an opportunity to be heard and issuing a proper speaking and appealable order.
Officials have also said that the verification of facts and documents is underway and that entries found to be valid will be retained in the final electoral roll.
This distinction is significant in the cases involving senior officials and prominent public figures because several entries that initially appeared in the notice list have subsequently been validated following document verification.
Claims and Objections Process Underway
The current stage is part of the claims and objections process following publication of the draft electoral roll.
According to the Delhi CEO’s latest information, the claims and objections phase will continue until September 30. Electors who receive notices have been asked to submit their replies and supporting documents to the Electoral Registration Officers of their respective Assembly constituencies by October 29.
The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published after completion of the verification and claims-and-objections process.
SIR Exercise Under Wider Scrutiny
The large-scale notice process has also attracted public and legal attention because of the number of electors involved and the categories used to flag entries.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a plea on September 22 concerning transparency in the Delhi SIR process, including issues relating to the publication of names and reasons for notices issued to voters.
For now, the Election Commission’s position is that the notice process is part of electoral-roll verification and correction, while the legal proceedings will examine the questions raised about the transparency and operation of the exercise.
