Gujarat High Court Directs Inclusion Of Voter In Municipal Roll, Cites 'Digitally Signed Acknowledgement' Of Inclusion In Assembly Roll

The Gujarat High Court directed the State Election Commission to include a man's name in the electoral roll enabling him to vote in the upcoming Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Elections, noting that his application form for inclusion in the State Assembly List consisted of a "digital signature acknowledging the filing of the form". The court was hearing a man's petition seeking a direction to the authorities to include his name in the Electoral Roll of Ward No.44 of Khokhara and permit him to participate in the electoral process in the upcoming elections of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. A division bench of Justice NS Sanjay Gowda and Justice JL Odedra noted the submission of State Election Commission that the request of the petitioner for inclusion in the electoral roll was rejected on 06.04.2026 on the ground that the name of the petitioner was not found in the revised electoral roll prepared on 17.02.2026. It was submitted that Rule 6 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (Registration of Voters) Rules 1994, would also disentitle the State Election Commission from incorporating the name of the petitioner within the period preceding 10 days of the last date of filing the nomination. Meanwhile the counsel for the petitioner placed on record the application form that he had filed on 12.03.2026 for inclusion of his name, which also consisted of a "digital signature which acknowledges the filing of the form". He also produced the SMS message which indicated that his application for inclusion was processed successfully. "This would indicate that prior to the publication of Preliminary list on 23.03.2026, the name of the petitioner was, in fact, included in the assembly constituency of Maninagar. If the name of the petitioner was included in the Maninagar constituency, it is obvious that he gets the right to be also included in the electoral roll for participation in the election process of AMC. Consequently, we are of the view that the writ petition deserves to be allowed and accordingly, a direction is issued to respondent No.4 to include the name of the petitioner in the electoral roll of Ward No.44 of Khokhara and as a consequence, the petitioner would also be at liberty to participate in the electoral process scheduled to be held in the forthcoming month," the court said. The petitioner contended that his name was in the assembly constituency–Khokhara, which forms the basis of the preparation of the electoral rolls for the Municipal Corporation elections.However, his name came to be deleted in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Pursuant to this, the petitioner said, he made an application for inclusion of his name on 12.03.2026. It was his case that this application was accepted and he had received a message on his telephone that the application has been processed successfully. He also stated that the application "has been acknowledged digitally on 12.03.2026". It was argued that the petitioner was issued an Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC Card) indicating that his name had been included in respect of Maninagar assembly constituency. It is not in serious dispute that the Maninagar assembly constituency comprises of ward falling within the Khokhara constituency and, therefore, the persons in the electoral roll of Maninagar constituency will have to be included in the electoral list for the AMC elections. It was submitted by the State Election Commission that the preliminary list was prepared on 23.03.2026 on the basis of the revised assembly constituency electoral roll dated 17.02.2026.It was submitted that since the name of the petitioner was not even in the revised list dated 17.02.2026, his name could not be included in the electoral roll for the AMC. However the counsel for State Election Commission, submitted that she was unable to verify whether the application of the petitioner for being included was made on 12.03.2026 and was accepted by the concerned authority.The petition was allowed. Case title: SANJAYBHAI MANGALBHAI GADHAVI. v/s THE STATE ELECTION COMMISSION & ORSR/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 5134 of 2026Click Here To Read/Download Order

Gujarat High Court Directs Inclusion Of Voter In Municipal Roll, Cites 'Digitally Signed Acknowledgement' Of Inclusion In Assembly Roll

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