The Gujarat high court has directed the state election commission to include the name of Ahmedabad resident J B Patel in the electoral list to be published on April 10. Patel’s name was deleted during the special intensive revision (SIR) of the assembly electoral rolls. The order comes ahead of the Ahmedabad municipal corporation polls on April 26.
A division bench of the Gujarat high court, comprising Justice NSS Gowda and Justice J L Odedra, delivered the ruling on Tuesday. The court quashed the election officer’s April 4 order that had refused to include J B Patel’s name in the upcoming electoral rolls.
Patel, an Ahmedabad resident, filed the petition through advocates KH Mistry and Chitrajeet Upadhyay. His name appeared in the electoral roll updated in December 2021 but was deleted during this year’s special intensive revision (SIR) after he shifted residence. He applied for inclusion on February 8, but it was absent from the February 17 roll published by the chief electoral officer. A March 3 application was accepted under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
However, his name was missing from the preliminary list issued on March 23, as it was based on the February 17 roll—the basis for the April 10 final list. Upadhyay argued that Patel has an “indefeasible right” to participate in the election process, as he aspires to contest the Ahmedabad municipal corporation polls on April 26, and the inclusion order predated the 10-day cutoff for nominations.
The court directed authorities to treat the March 3 order as effective for inclusion, allowing Patel to participate. “The right of a citizen to participate in the election cannot be denied,” the order stated. It emphasized that every resident of the local self-government has the right to be on the electoral roll and engage in the process, and assembly roll corrections should extend to municipal rolls.
