The High Court has quashed orders issued by election authorities deleting the names of petitioners from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), observing that software limitations or administrative freezing cannot override statutory voting rights.

The court noted that election authorities in Goa had failed to follow fundamental safeguards, including individual inquiries, reasoned orders and hearings for affected persons before deleting their names from the electoral rolls.

In a specific direction, the High Court instructed the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of the Santa Cruz Assembly Constituency to verify the residence of petitioner Paresh Salgaonkar and his family members and include their names in the electoral rolls within ten days.

The court observed that arbitrary procedures adopted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and local election authorities, coupled with software glitches, had deprived citizens of their fundamental and valuable right to vote.