Probe Demanded After 3,404 Voter Forms Found at Kharghar Photocopy Centre
Three civil rights organisations have demanded an impartial, time-bound probe following the recovery of 3,404 original Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Enumeration Forms from a private photocopying centre in Sector 19, Kharghar. The demand was raised by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), Vote for Democracy (VFD), and the Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS).
In a letter addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra on September 2, the groups stated that the recovery raises serious questions regarding the security and chain of custody of official electoral records. The recovered forms reportedly belonged to 11 polling stations situated within the 188-Panvel Assembly Constituency.
Following the discovery of the documents, a First Information Report (FIR) was reportedly registered against an individual named Suraj Patil. In addition, administrative authorities have suspended five Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and initiated a departmental inquiry into the breach.
The organisations noted that the investigation must pinpoint who removed the original records from official custody and who authorised their duplication. They also stressed the need to determine whether citizen voter information was scanned, photographed, digitally stored, or transmitted to outside parties.
"The issue is not one of attributing guilt by association. It is one of determining whether political actors obtained access to voter information outside the safeguards governing the electoral process," the groups stated in their joint communication. They further called for the preservation of CCTV footage and the forensic examination of all computers, scanners, photocopiers, and related machinery used to handle the forms.
The organisations linked the Kharghar incident to wider irregularities in the SIR exercise, highlighting that nearly 2.07 crore Enumeration Forms were classified as "uncollectable" during the draft stage. While noting that this classification does not automatically lead to permanent deletion from the rolls, they argued that exclusions on such a scale make an error-free verification process essential.
Calling for systemic accountability, CJP, VFD, and BCS urged the Election Commission to treat the Kharghar occurrence as an institutional matter affecting the integrity of the state's electoral machinery. They have demanded a state-wide audit into the custody and handling of all SIR forms, alongside strict, uniform protocols to block unauthorised access.
