The Bombay High Court has questioned the Election Commission of India over the rejection of Form 8 applications and the deletion of voter names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

A division bench of Justices Amit Jamsandekar and Valmiki Menezes of the Goa bench was hearing a petition by Paresh Salgaonkar and five family members. The family had shifted homes within the same Santa Cruz constituency and, on a booth officer's advice, filed Form 8 to update their address.

According to the petitioners, the ECI's ERONET system could not find their EPIC records, leaving only a "reject" option. They were then told to file Form 6 — meant for first-time voters — while their names were deleted from the rolls.

The court held that a draft SIR roll cannot be used to delete existing voters' names, and said administrative software cannot override the statutory framework. The bench suggested Form 8 applications be kept in abeyance rather than rejected.

The case matters because it tests whether digitisation of the rolls is disenfranchising genuine voters. Thousands could face the same glitch.