PIL in SC Seeks SIT Probe into Rahul Gandhi's Allegations of Electoral Roll Fraud

A public interest litigation petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the allegations raised by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of large-scale electoral roll manipulation in Bengaluru Central and other constituencies

 

The plea has also sought directions to the frame and issue binding guidelines to the Election Commission of India to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity in the preparation, maintenance, and publication of electoral rolls, including mechanisms for detection and prevention of duplicate or fictitious entries.

 

Pertinently, the petition has also sought directions to the ECI to publish electoral rolls in accessible, machine-readable and OCR-compliant formats to enable meaningful verification, audit and public scrutiny.

 

The petition has been filed by a lawyer, advocate Rohit Pandey, placing reliance on Gandhi's press conference of August 7 in which he alleged manipulation of electoral rolls of the Mahadevapura assembly constituency in Bengaluru.

 

"Upon coming across credible revelations, including a press conference dated 07.08.2025 by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, alleging large-scale manipulation of genuine voters' names, and inclusion of fictitious entries in the electoral rolls of the Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency (falling within the Bengaluru Central Parliamentary Constituency), the Petitioner became gravely concerned, as such actions, if true, strike at the core of the "one person, one vote" principle enshrined under Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution," the plea said.

 

As per the petitioner, after independently verifying the authenticity of these reports through publicly available government data, the petitioner found sufficient prima facie material to establish that the allegations reveal a systemic attempt to dilute and distort the value of lawful votes, thereby necessitating urgent intervention of the Supreme Court.

 

"The allegations of dilution of the purity of electoral rolls directly undermines the constitutional vision of free and fair elections in the eyes of the community at large," the plea has contended, while seeking a court-monitored probe by SIT headed by a former judge.

 

The PIL annexes examples of alleged irregularities, including approximately 40,000–50,000 voters recorded with identical addresses and father's names in Karnataka, and approximately 80 voters registered at one and the same address in Chandrapur, Maharashtra.

 

The issue goes to the foundation of the democratic process, the plea has stated.

 

“What is at stake here is not the outcome of a single electoral contest, but the integrity and credibility of the electoral roll itself, the bedrock upon which the entire democratic process stands.”

 

The reliefs sought include directions to halt further finalisation of rolls until an independent audit is carried out, and binding guidelines to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity in the preparation, maintenance and publication of electoral rolls.

 

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