The Bombay High Court on Monday (September 28) agreed to hear the petition claiming numerous flaws in the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Maharashtra and posted the matter for hearing on October 5.

The petition filed on behalf of two businessmen, was mentioned before a division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna stating that an important issue is raised in the said petition as it concerns the rights of citizens.

"There is extreme urgency in this matter, which raises an important issue about the rights of citizens. At least 2 crore 10 lakh citizens' names are likely to be deleted from the State's voter list," the counsel told the bench. 

Hearing the same, the judges agreed to consider the petition on next Monday i.e. October 5.

Notably, the present petition does not seek to stop the SIR exercise but instead, it seeks disclosure or production of the order and recorded reasons under which the SIR is being undertaken in Maharashtra, along with transparency regarding its methodology and legal basis.

"The petitioners do not seek to stop the SIR or to disturb this programme. The ECI may make a limited electoral assessment but cannot conclusively determine citizenship. Where the doubt remains, the matter must be referred to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the electoral consequence must abide by its decision," the petition states.

The petition also seeks safeguards against wrongful exclusion of eligible voters and restoration of deleted voter names.

It alleges that although the ECI's Maharashtra instructions do not permit collection of documents during enumeration, Booth Level Officers have allegedly been asking citizens to furnish "supporting documents" while receiving Enumeration Forms.

This petition concerns the lawful implementation in Maharashtra of the SIR. The petitioners do not seek to stop the SIR or to disturb this programme. The ECI may make a limited electoral assessment but cannot conclusively determine citizenship. Where the doubt remains, the matter must be referred to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the electoral consequence must abide by its decision. The limited relief sought is disclosure or production of the order and recorded reasons under which the SIR is being undertaken in Maharashtra, along with transparency regarding its methodology and legal basis with safeguards against wrongful exclusion of eligible voters- Gandhi's petition

The plea therefore seeks transparency regarding the methodology and legal basis of the SIR and safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not wrongly excluded.