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dismisses PIL seeking special voter enrolment for homeless persons
The has dismissed a that sought a special mechanism to enrol homeless persons in the electoral rolls during the Election Commission's exercise. A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia held that existing provisions under the Election Commission's Manual are adequate to protect the of homeless and pavement dwellers.
PIL raised fears of systematic exclusion
The PIL, filed by Indu Prakash Singh, argued that the SIR methodology—which relies on conducting house-to-house visits to addresses recorded in the last electoral roll—would systematically exclude persons rendered homeless by large-scale demolition drives in Delhi since 2023. The petitioner estimated that around three lakh people had been displaced and faced structural barriers to enrolment.
The petition highlighted several practical difficulties: demolished premises causing BLOs to mark electors as "shifted" or "absent"; homeless individuals lacking documents to prove "" under ; and relocated persons whose rehabilitation colonies were not yet integrated into the electoral mapping framework.
defends existing framework
The , represented by standing counsel , pointed to , which provides a specific procedure for homeless and pavement dwellers. Under this clause, homeless persons can submit , after which the BLO must visit the given address for more than one night to verify that the applicant actually sleeps there. The also submitted an extract of the showing homeless persons listed with "0" in the house number column, demonstrating that the mechanism was already being implemented.
Court finds 'no vacuum' in existing mechanism
The court observed that the petitioner's apprehension appeared "without any basis" given the existing provisions. In its order dated
, the bench noted:
"The Manual already provide process for determination of the
in accordance with the RP Act for homeless persons as per Clause 8.5 of the Manual. Therefore, the apprehension of the Petitioner that the homeless persons shall be excluded from the
appears to be without any basis."
The court further remarked that the petitioner had made "" regarding the exclusion of persons displaced by demolition drives, without providing particulars or numbers of those still excluded after the last Assembly Elections.
Homeless persons already on draft rolls
The bench was particularly persuaded by the
's evidence showing homeless persons included in the
with a house number of "0".
"The extract of the
... clearly showing the category of homeless persons with their name, age, gender and photograph, and the house number as '0', clearly demonstrates that the
is already implementing the process of inclusion of the homeless persons in the
as provided in the Manual during the SIR exercise,"
the court held.
Remedy through
The court also noted that any elector excluded due to demolition or relocation could submit under the , for inclusion. The Manual mandates that the BLO must then visit the new address for multiple nights to verify residence, ensuring for homeless individuals.
Petition dismissed
Concluding that there was "no vacuum" in the existing mechanism, the bench dismissed all prayers, including the request to invalidate
Directive No. 23/2025-ERS. The court stated:
"Accordingly, none of the prayers sought in the present Petition deserves to be granted. As a result, the present Petition is dismissed."
The decision reinforces that the current legal framework, with its special provisions for homeless persons, remains sufficient to safeguard the constitutional guarantee of under .
