New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal has questioned Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a notice issued to him concerning his voter registration, asking whether his citizenship had become “suspect” and warning that the issue of voter names being removed from electoral rolls could eventually reach the Supreme Court.

Sibal, a former Union minister, alleged that legitimate voters were being subjected to scrutiny or having their names removed during the electoral roll revision process.

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"Firstly, I congratulate Gyanesh Kumar. He thinks that my citizenship is suspect. I want to put facts straight before Gyanesh Kumar about what is happening in this country because of him. I think the issue of how Gyanesh Kumar is removing people’s names from the voter list will reach the Supreme Court," Sibal said.

Sibal said his name appeared in the draft electoral roll and claimed that he had completed the verification process with the Booth Level Officer (BLO).

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"My name is in the draft register. It is there because I was an MP. I was voting in Patna then. You can see my father’s name as well. When the BLO came here, I filled the form. You can see my signature and the BLO’s signature here. How can I get the notice then?" Sibal questioned.

He also questioned the manner in which the notice was communicated to him, saying he had not received a physical copy at his address and had instead seen the notice online.

"I want to ask Gyanesh Kumar, how did you send me a notice? Am I not a citizen of this country? In 2002, I was a Rajya Sabha member. They didn’t even send me a notice physically. I saw it on the website. This is how they operate," he asserted.

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Sibal further raised concerns about ordinary voters who may not have the time, resources or legal knowledge to regularly check electoral portals and respond to such notices.

"I showed my matching BLO’s sign here; still, I got the notice. If this is happening to me, you can imagine how many people’s votes would be cut. You can also see how the EC is working," Sibal added.

The notice to Sibal comes amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi. The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office has said notices were being issued to voters where discrepancies were found in their enumeration details or where their records could not be linked with the previous SIR.

The Election Commission is also holding special camps across Delhi on September 20 to assist voters with corrections, inclusions and objections relating to electoral rolls.