CH NEWS
BENGALURU
A writ petition has been filed before the Karnataka High Court challenging the State Election Commission’s decision to undertake a separate revision of electoral rolls in selected wards of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), even as the Election Commission of India is conducting a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
The petition, filed by Vivek and other residents of the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency, seeks the quashing of the State Election Commission’s June 19 order directing a parallel revision of electoral rolls in certain GBA wards. The matter is yet to come up for hearing.
According to the petitioners, the Election Commission of India had announced the nationwide SIR programme on October 27, 2025, and subsequently froze the electoral rolls for Assembly constituencies in Karnataka on June 16, 2026. Just three days later, the State Election Commission issued its own order initiating a separate revision process for selected urban wards.
The petition contends that the house-to-house SIR exercise directed by the Central Election Commission commenced across Karnataka, including Bengaluru, on June 26. Conducting another voter list revision simultaneously, it argues, is likely to create confusion among officials and voters and could result in duplication of work.
The petitioners have also alleged that the State Election Commission’s exercise is contrary to the directions issued by the Election Commission of India and therefore deserves to be set aside.
They further claimed that appointing separate officials for the same exercise, conducting independent training programmes, printing additional voter lists and preparing separate Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) infrastructure would lead to unnecessary expenditure of public funds and duplication of administrative resources.
Seeking judicial intervention, the petitioners have requested the High Court to quash the June 19 notification and prevent the parallel revision process from continuing while the nationwide SIR exercise is under way.
The High Court is expected to hear the matter in the coming days. The outcome could have significant implications for electoral roll revision in Bengaluru ahead of the upcoming civic elections under the Greater Bengaluru Authority.
