“How can they remove my name from the voter list… Am I dead? Today you are not voting for me, tomorrow you can remove my name from the ration card, then from the land records… where will this injustice end?’ said Hemlata, whose name was reportedly deleted from the voter list ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
She moved the court last year with a complaint that she faced discrimination on the basis of caste, and the verdict came in her favour. Following the order of the SC/ST court, the Gautam Buddha Nagar police on Tuesday registered an FIR against three government officials.
Hemlata, a resident of Roshanpur village in Gautam Buddha Nagar district, looks after the house and farm work, while her husband Mahendra Kumar is a labourer.
Recalling election day, she said: “I stood in line to vote like everyone else. But when my turn came, the polling officials present at the booth said (my name) is not in the record, it has been deleted. This was very unusual. If I voted in the 2017 election, how can I be disqualified from voting now?”
Most people would pass it off as a ‘government’ mistake, but Hemlata did not remain silent: “It was not just my name that was removed from the voter list. But people don’t speak, they are afraid of the consequences, but I thought I should fight it.
First he complained to the concerned police station and then to the police commissionerate. When nothing happened, he approached the SC/ST court of the district. On November 23, 2022 Special Judge Jyotsna Singh ordered the police to register a case FIR Sixty days after the verdict against the then Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Sadar) and two Tehsildars, the Dankaur police registered an FIR against former Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Sadar) Rajinikanth; The then Tehsildar Vinay Kumar Bhadauria and Akhilesh Singh. Apart from this, 4-5 unknown people have been made accused in the FIR.
The order states: “…the name of the applicant was deleted from the voter list due to caste enmity and he was treated as a lower caste person…my fundamental right to vote was violated. Not only this, a forged certificate was presented to the Election Commission that there was no error in the voter list and no name was missing. On the other hand, there were a lot of irregularities in the voter list and it was done deliberately.”
“As per the facts and circumstances of the application, prima facie, it is clear that the opposite party has committed a cognizable offense which deserves to be investigated by the police. Therefore, in the interest of justice, the application is allowed,” the order said. Having said.
The court had said that a case should be registered within a week, but it was not complied with. Hemlata once again had to move the court complaining against the concerned SHO and ACP of the district and seeking implementation of the order.
His lawyer Raj Kumar said, “The police submitted a report on January 12 citing ‘certain reasons’ for not complying with the order. The SC/ST Act 1989 itself states that if a member of a Scheduled Caste coerces or intimidates a person not to vote or to vote for a particular candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided by law. It is an offense for each district to submit a certificate to the Election Commission that There is no error in the voter list and no eligible name has been deleted…”
He said that the name can be deleted only if a person has died, has changed his place of residence or has a duplicate name. It is also necessary to give 15 days’ notice before removing someone’s name from the list.
According to the police, the Assistant Commissioner of Police-3 (Greater Noida) is investigating the matter. FIR under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 120B (criminal conspiracy) , 166 (disobedience to law by public servant), and 167 (making false document with intent to cause hurt by public servant). Section 3 of the SC/ST Act, 1989 has also been added to the FIR.