Several senior government officials, including Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, CBI Director Praveen Sood, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, are among Delhi electors who have been issued notices as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to records reported by The Indian Express, 31.63 lakh electors in Delhi have been identified for notices over discrepancies in their electoral-roll details or because their entries could not be mapped with the previous intensive revision roll. The Election Commission uploaded booth-wise lists of such electors on Friday.
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Sandhu’s name appeared among those flagged in the exercise because of discrepancies in the electoral records. The CBI director’s details, meanwhile, could not be mapped with the previous SIR roll, according to the records. The list also includes several serving and retired senior bureaucrats.
Other prominent names reported to have received notices include former NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The notices are part of the verification process under the electoral-roll revision.
The Election Commission has categorised voters for notice issuance under different reasons, including being “unmapped with last SIR” and having “logical discrepancies” between details in the current and earlier electoral rolls.
The exercise has also affected several prominent political figures. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj and former Delhi BJP chief Virendra Kumar Sachdeva have been among those identified for verification. Gupta’s details were subsequently verified after she submitted the required documents.
Importantly, being issued an SIR notice does not automatically mean that a voter’s name will be removed from the electoral roll. The notice gives the elector an opportunity to provide documents or clarify discrepancies before the final roll is prepared. Delhi election officials have said the verification and validation process is continuing.
The SIR process has generated wider debate over the handling of electoral-roll data. A petition before the Supreme Court has sought greater transparency regarding the names of voters receiving notices and the reasons for their classification. The court is scheduled to hear the matter on September 22.
The Election Commission’s voter-services platform also provides facilities for electors to search electoral-roll information and access SIR-related services.
The inclusion of senior officials and prominent public figures in the notice lists highlights the scale of the verification exercise, but the notices themselves indicate that their electoral details require confirmation or clarification rather than establishing that they are ineligible to vote.
The final status of individual entries will depend on the verification process and the documents submitted by the concerned electors.
