Goa Voter Challenges SIR Deletion in Court
Paresh Salgaoncar and five family members were removed from Goa's electoral rolls after their address-change applications were rejected during the Special Intensive Revision process.
A Goa resident, Paresh Salgaoncar, has approached the Bombay High Court after he and five family members were left off the state's final electoral rolls following the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The family had applied to update their address within the same constituency, but their Form 8 applications were rejected.
Salgaoncar, a resident of the Santa Cruz constituency in North Goa, said his family had moved to a different part of the constituency more than eight years ago. During the SIR enumeration process in November 2025, they followed instructions to submit Form 8 applications for the change of address. The Election Commission acknowledged receipt, but the family's names did not appear in the draft electoral roll published on December 16.
In January 2026, Salgaoncar received notifications that the applications had been rejected. Officials reportedly told the family that the system had classified their voter identification records as absent, shifted, duplicate or dead, and that Form 8 processing had been stopped during the enumeration period. They were advised to submit Form 6, which is ordinarily used by new voters to register.
Salgaoncar objected to filing Form 6 because he said it would require him to declare himself a new voter despite having voted in local, state and Lok Sabha elections since 2003. He argued that software limitations and administrative guidelines should not prevent eligible voters from correcting their address details or restoring their names to the rolls.
After complaints to the Election Commission's grievance portal and the offices of the district election officer and Chief Electoral Officer did not resolve the issue, Salgaoncar filed a petition in the High Court in May 2026. The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court expressed concern over eligible voters being left off the electoral rolls and said the Election Commission must endeavour to ensure they are not excluded.
The case raises questions about how electoral-roll software and SIR procedures handle address changes during enumeration. Salgaoncar maintains that citizens should not lose their voting registration because of system constraints and has sought a remedy that preserves their existing voter records.