'Democracy Should Win': Kerala High Court Asks Election Commission To Reconsider Deletion Of Youth Congress Candidate's Name From Voter List

The Kerala High Court on Monday (November 17) directed the State Election Commission to decide by Wednesday (November 19) the plea of Vyshna S.L., the 24-year-old Congress candidate of Muttada Division of Trivandrum Corporation, regarding deletion of her name from the voters list.According to the plea, the petitioner is an IT professional who was identified by the Indian National Congress to stand for the upcoming local body elections as the candidate from Muttada Division of Thiruvananthapuram.Though her and her parents' names were included in the preliminary voters list and the final voters list, she was served with a notice issued by the Electoral Registration Officer stating that their names were deleted from the voters list. Aggrieved, she had come before the High Court.As per her plea, her name was deleted on the basis of an objection filed by the Branch Secretary of CPI, Dhanesh Kumar (3rd respondent), alleging that the petitioner is not an ordinary resident of the ward she is contesting in.Considering the objection, the Electoral Registration Officer issued notice and conducted a hearing. The petitioner produced several documents, including her Aadhar card, driving licence and passport to prove her residence while the 3rd respondent did not produce any along with his objection. According to her, the 3rd respondent was not even present at the hearing. Even then, the Electoral Registration Officeracted arbitrarily and deleted the names.After she was issued with the notice regarding deletion of her name, she had submitted an appeal against the same before the District Collector. Since the electoral roll would be freezed by November 21, and apprehending that her appeal would not be entertained because of political influence, the petitioner sought interference from the High Court.Considering the case, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan felt that the SEC (1st respondent) should address the grievance of the petitioner-candidate. The petitioner and the 3rd respondent, accordingly, were directed to appear before the SEC.The Court observed:“The 1st respondent should see that the documents produced by the petitioner is considered and thereafter pass appropriate orders. I make it clear that, a girl aged 24 years shall not be denied her right to participate in the election for technical reason. In these type of cases, the winner should be democracy and not technicality or party politics. The order shall be passed on or before 19.11.2025.”The case is posted on November 20 (Thursday).The petition is moved by Senior Advocate George Poonthottan, Advocates Nisha George, Anshin K.K and Silpa Sreekumar.Case No: WP(C) 43131 of 2025Case Title: Vyshna S.L. v. State Election Commission and Ors.Click to Read/Download Interim Order

'Democracy Should Win': Kerala High Court Asks Election Commission To Reconsider Deletion Of Youth Congress Candidate's Name From Voter List

K. Salma Jennath

Tags