New Delhi (September 18, 2012): According to media reports the Indian Supreme Court has directed the Delhi Government to conduct elections to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) by December 2012 and further to complete the exercise for fresh electoral rolls and delimitation of wards within 9 months thereafter.
It is notable that Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee is a statutory body formed under “The Delhi Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1971”, an enactment by Parliament of India.
A Division Bench of Justice R. M. Lodha and Anil Dave further ruled that only those who had an identity card recognised by the Election Commission for allowing voters to vote could cast their vote in the DSGMC poll.
The Supreme Court has passed these orders while disposing of the appeals of the Dashmesh Sewa Society and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi UK), challenging the March 1, 2012, order of the Delhi High Court allowing holding of elections without undertaking a fresh revision of electoral rolls and delimitation of wards.
The court has clarified that the electorate would also be subjected to the DSGMC Election of Members Rules 1972 under which Sikhs alone could vote in the elections. The Supreme Court made it clear that the preparation of fresh electoral rolls and delimitation would have to be undertaken only if found necessary.
According to media reports Advocate K. T. S. Tulsi, appearing for the Delhi Government, said the revised electoral rolls contained 4,05,332 eligible voters. However, the petitioners contended that only about 2.5 lakh of them were genuine and the rest were bogus voters. The Court, however, maintained that “it is very difficult to accept” that 1.5 lakh voters could be bogus as only 5,000 objections had been received following the publication of the draft rolls.