Congress, civil society seek criminal cases over bulk Form 7 deletions in Karnataka

Civil society organisations and the Karnataka Congress have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to register criminal complaints over a wave of bulk Form 7 applications filed across the State, which they allege are aimed at removing predominantly Muslim voters from the electoral rolls.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president B.K. Hariprasad wrote to the State's Chief Electoral Officer on Tuesday, seeking suo motu action against those misusing Form 7 to seek deletion of bona fide voters. Noor Sridhar, coordinator of SIR Virodhi Okkuta, separately demanded an inquiry into the applications and a criminal case against anyone found to have filed fraudulent forms. The CEO, Karnataka, V. Anbukumar, was not available for comment.

Scale of the applications

As of September 28, around 4,000 Form 7 applications had been filed in the State, most of them targeting Muslim voters in constituencies held by both the Congress and the BJP. A large share came from Babaleshwar, represented by Minister M.B. Patil, and Bhalki, represented by Minister Eshwar Khandre. In Babaleshwar, ten people sought the deletion of 1,363 names in a single day. Many of the forms carried voter details already printed, with only the objector's name written by hand — a pattern Mr. Hariprasad described as evidence of a systematic, centralised operation and a criminal conspiracy.

Echoes of the Aland case

The developments mirror the Aland voter fraud case, in which unidentified individuals filed Form 7 applications seeking deletion of 5,994 voters in the names of others from the same booth, none of whom were aware of it. An FIR was registered and a Special Investigation Team led by senior officer B.K. Singh found an organised attempt to forge Form 7s. A former BJP MLA from Aland has been chargesheeted.

Under the law, only authorised election officials can file criminal complaints relating to electoral rolls; private individuals cannot, nor can the State government act on its own. In the Aland case, a complaint by Congress candidate B.R. Patil prompted the CEO to order a probe, after which the then Returning Officer filed a police complaint that led to the FIR.

In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party-led government set up an SIT to examine similar allegations of forged Form 7s by YSR Congress Party workers in the Parchur Assembly constituency, based on a complaint by the TDP candidate. The SIT was dissolved after the ECI raised objections.

Mr. Patil said the organised effort amounted to a criminal conspiracy to disenfranchise voters and tamper with the democratic process, and urged the ECI to act as it did in Aland. Mr. Khandre, whose Bhalki constituency saw 30 people seek deletion of 1,700 names, asked the Bidar District Election Officer to hold an inquiry, report to the ECI and, with its clearance, ensure an FIR against those responsible.