Delhi SIR: 125-Year-Old Voter Among 33 Lakh Served Notices Over Details

A 125-year-old voter in old Delhi is among more than 33 lakh electors who have been issued notices over discrepancies in the details they furnished during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the capital's electoral rolls.

The centenarian, identified as Shyam Mukhija, has been flagged for a "self-name mismatch" in the electoral roll for the Sadar Bazar assembly constituency, according to the list of voters issued notices on the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's website. He is the oldest elector on that list, which also carries the names of voters in their 80s and 90s.

The list is not limited to ordinary electors. It includes figures from politics, the judiciary, the bureaucracy and academia, among them former deputy prime minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, former vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar and Election Commissioner S S Sandhu.

Officials issued 33.13 lakh notices after draft rolls covering more than 97 lakh voters were published under the SIR. Most of the notices stem from voter details that did not match the information recorded in the last such revision in 2002.

The development follows an Election Commission directive last year asking officials in Delhi to verify the electoral particulars of voters aged 100 and above. Official data showed Delhi had close to 150 centenarian voters as of 2020.

A notice does not by itself remove a voter from the roll. Those who have received one can respond and submit supporting documents to the electoral registration officers concerned. The claims and objections process is under way, with replies due by September 30, and the final electoral roll is to be published on November 4.