Bengaluru, 5 October

Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar on Monday said no voter had been deleted from the electoral roll merely because objections were filed through Form-7 during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

He said Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) had been directed to take legal action against applicants found to have knowingly made false declarations in Forms 6, 6A, 7 or 8 under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act.

Form-7 is used to object to the inclusion or retention of a name in the electoral roll. The ruling Congress has alleged that the BJP was misusing the provision, while the BJP has rejected the charge.

Anbukkumar said an ERO must issue notices to both the objector and voter, conduct a hearing and verify documents before deciding whether a name should be deleted. The procedure is laid down under Rules 16 to 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The enquiry must be completed within seven days, after which the independent ERO decides the action, he said, adding that no case had so far been registered by election authorities.

Anbukkumar said FIRs relating to alleged bulk fraudulent Form-7 applications had been filed by private persons and he could not comment as the matter was sub judice.

Under the SIR provisions, an individual can submit up to 10 Form-7 applications a day, with a maximum of 50 by a person or Booth Level Agent.

Applications beyond the limit will be examined by the ERO, who can reject them or take further action.

The CEO said the electoral roll is continuously updated through Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8. Applications submitted before September 23 will be disposed of by October 22, with corrections reflected in the final roll on October 27. Later applications will appear in supplementary lists.

Notices have also been issued to voters under the “no mapping” and “anomalies” categories during the revision.