By Our Staff Reporter
Nainital, 22 May: The Uttarakhand High Court today heard a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the voter lists finalised for the upcoming panchayat elections in the state. The hearing was held by the division bench comprising Senior Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Ashish Naithani.
The bench directed the state government to ensure that the three-member committee, formed by Dehradun District Magistrate to investigate the voter lists related to the district, completes its verification within six weeks. The court also instructed that names appearing at two places in the voter list must be corrected. Following the hearing, the court disposed of the PIL.
It may be recalled that Mahipal Singh, a resident of village Sateli in Gram Sabha Baraud in district Dehradun, had filed the PIL. In his petition, he claimed that only two families currently reside in his village, both having electricity meters, while other families have migrated for employment. However, during the verification of the panchayat voter list, 122 names were found listed as voters in the village, despite the fact that in reality, only two families have been living there for several years. He also contended that similar situations reportedly exist in villages of other districts as well. The PIL also mentioned that these two families are not receiving the benefits of state and central government schemes.
In the petition, it was further alleged that officials are misappropriating development funds meant for the village by relying on the inflated voter list. The petitioner requested the court to order a fresh verification of the Gram Sabha voter list to prevent misuse of government funds and to correct voter lists in other areas as well. Mahipal Singh further informed the court that he had submitted representations to the Dehradun District Magistrate for the past two years, and only after much difficulty was a three-member committee constituted for verification. However, the committee has not yet given any decision, which could affect the upcoming elections.
The High Court has now mandated a timely investigation and correction of the voter list to ensure fair elections and proper use of government resources.
