Delhi HC Rules Party Agents Not Liable For False Details In SIR Forms
The Delhi High Court on Thursday held that booth-level agents of political parties cannot be held liable for false details entered in enumeration forms during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Justice Amit Bansal ruled that such agents can only be held accountable for verifiable information, such as confirming that an elector’s photograph matches their identity.
The court stated that a booth-level agent cannot be expected to verify every piece of information on an enumeration form, as those facts rest exclusively within the knowledge of the elector. Justice Bansal noted that under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, making false declarations during the preparation, revision, or correction of an electoral roll carries penalties of up to one year of imprisonment, a fine, or both, but agents can only be held liable under this section for details they can realistically verify.
The ruling was delivered on a petition filed by Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav and the chairman of the party’s booth management committee. The petitioners challenged a mandate requiring all booth-level agents to furnish personal undertakings certifying that they had personally verified every detail on enumeration forms tied to the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
The petitioners argued that because the underlying information remains within the exclusive knowledge of the voter, agents act merely in an assistance capacity and cannot be forced to personally authenticate the entirety of the details.
The Election Commission of India maintained that it allowed registered parties to appoint booth-level agents during the revision process to avoid impressions that booth-level officers were excluding supporters of particular parties in a partisan manner.
The High Court observed that under the revision framework, the responsibility for verification and undertakings belongs to booth-level officers, concluding there was no justification to compel party agents to provide such personal guarantees. While agents hold full responsibility for forms regarding deceased or relocated voters because they gather that information themselves, they cannot be held liable for unverifiable details provided on the forms.
