Allahabad High Court Dismisses PIL Against UP MLC Election Rolls, Says Article 329 Bars Challenge To Poll Notification

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the electoral rolls for elections to 5 Graduates' Constituencies and 6 Teachers' Constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.

The bench said that the exercise of amending the electoral rolls could not be faulted and that Article 329 of the Constitution of India bars a challenge to the election notification once the election process has begun.

A Bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra also observed that the PIL's challenge to the amendment of the electoral rolls was based on a "misplaced apprehension" and a failure to distinguish between Sections 21 and 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

The PIL plea was filed by Akshay Upadhyay, who claimed to be a resident of the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates' Constituency for the Legislative Council.

Upadhyay sought to quash the notice/notification (dated September 29, 2026) for conducting elections to the Graduates' and Teachers' Constituencies based on electoral rolls prepared under a notification dated September 30, 2025.

He alleged that electoral rolls deprived eligible graduates of voting rights

He also sought directions to prepare fresh electoral rolls and conduct elections to the 5 Graduates' Constituencies and 6 Teachers' Constituencies in accordance with the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The petitioner contended that the authorities were proceeding with the elections without preparing fresh electoral rolls before the general elections.

He argued that the electoral rolls had been revised in 2025 with November 1, 2025, as the qualifying date, while the elections were scheduled for October 23, 2026.

He said relying on the same electoral rolls would deprive graduates who qualified in 2023 of an opportunity to have their names included.

Referring to Section 21 of the 1950 Act (Preparation and revision of electoral rolls), and Rule 31(3) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the petitioner alleged that the authorities had undertaken an exercise to prepare the voter list between September 26 and September 29, 2026, in violation of the applicable legal provisions.

He further argued that the authorities were required to publish a notification under Rule 31(4) of the 1960 Rules but failed to do so. He said this deprived many young electors of the opportunity to have their names included in the electoral rolls.

The Election Commission, on the other hand, said it had finalized the electoral rolls in January 2026. The ECI also submitted that the plea was "absolutely baseless".

It informed the Court that the process of preparing the electoral rolls began with a notification dated November 21, 2025, and that the rolls were finally published on January 6, 2026.

The Commission argued that the subsequent exercise complied with Section 23(3) of the 1950 Act (Inclusion of names in electoral rolls), which provides for the inclusion of names in electoral rolls.

It submitted that the petitioner's claim that a newspaper notification was required for the exercise was not tenable.

The Commission also pointed out that the petitioner had earlier filed a PIL challenging the revision of electoral rolls for the Graduates' and Teachers' Constituencies, which was dismissed in October last eyar.

After examining the submissions and the material on record, the High Court noted that Sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, deal respectively with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls, correction of entries, and inclusion of names in electoral rolls.

The Bench observed that the revision of the electoral rolls concluded on January 6, 2026, and that the subsequent exercise the petitioner challenged was governed by Section 23 of the Act.

Referring to Section 23(3), the Court observed thus:

"Section 23 of the Act, 1950 provides for amendment, transposition or deletion of any entry till last date for making nominations for an election in the constituency and therefore, apparently the exercise conducted by the respondents from 26 September 2026 till 29 September 2026 cannot be faulted".

It added that the filing of the petition appeared to be based on a "misplaced apprehension" and a failure to distinguish between Sections 21 and 23 of the Act.

Regarding Rule 31, the bench noted that it pertains to preparing electoral rolls under Section 21 and does not apply to Section 23, particularly Section 23(3), of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

The Bench further held that it could not entertain the challenge to the notification for holding the elections because the election process had already commenced.

It observed that "the bar contained in Article 329 of the Constitution of India would also be attracted" and, therefore, the challenge to the election notification could not be entertained.

Thus, finding no substance in the petition, the Allahabad High Court dismissed it.