Supreme Court judge Surya Kant, joined by Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, held a hearing on Tuesday demanding the Election Commission disclose why 47.7 lakh Delhi voters were stripped from the 1.45‑crore roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Advocate Prashant Bhushan presented evidence that almost one‑third of the electorate vanished from the lists and that an additional 31.6 to 33 lakh electors received machine‑generated verification notices because of data errors or unmapped records.
The ECI’s lawyer said the Commission had already published the list of electors served notices along with the reasons for each. He stressed that a notice merely raises a query, not a verdict, and that affected voters have until 29 October 2026 to submit responses. Special camps are being organized to ensure no eligible voter is left out of the final roll.
CJI Surya Kant cautioned that verification notices are provisional and urged Booth Level Officers to guide recipients through the clarification process. He reminded the bench that the SIR’s purpose is to verify records, not to disqualify voters.
The draft electoral roll released on 31 August had already excluded roughly 47.6 lakh names, raising alarm among top politicians. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, former Union minister Kapil Sibal and ex‑Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani were all among those served notices.
The Court now orders the Commission to publish a comprehensive database of all affected voters and the criteria used to issue notices, and to ensure a clear path for objections until the final roll is certified.