Rajasthan High Court Rejects Plea Against Deletion From Voter List, Cites Bar Under Article 243ZG

The Rajasthan High Court has rejected a man's plea challenging the deletion of his name from the voter list for the Nagar Palika General Election 2026, in light of the prohibition imposed by Article 243-ZG of the Constitution of India.

Article 243 ZG bars courts from interfering in the matters relating to municipal elections.

The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand observed that the matter pertained to casting of vote in the upcoming Municipal Elections for which a detailed election program was already issued by the Rajasthan State Election Commission, and hence the election process was already initiated.

For context, it was the case of the petitioner that prior to the publication of the voter lists, his name of present. However, allegedly, without any basis and any opportunity of hearing, his name was deleted from the voter lists, which was violative of the applicable laws and principles of natural justice.

The Court made a reference to the Supreme Court decisions in the cases of N.P. Ponnuswami v. Returning Officer, Namakkal Constituency and Ors. and Mohinder Singh Gill vs. Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi, in which it was held that once the election process was initiated by issuance of election program by the Election Commission, there could not be any interference by the Court.

In this background, the Court observed,

“…upon declaration of the election program by the State Election Commission, the election process has been initiated. Hence, the bar contained under Article 243-ZG of the Constitution of India comes into operation automatically. The grievance raised by the petitioner cannot be adjudicated by this Court, in the light of the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the above noted cases, at this stage after the election process has been initiated.”

Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.