Ferozepur Cantt residents move HC
We are making efforts to reach out to every individual in the CBF. The electoral rolls were revised as per a judgment of the apex court.
DAMAN SINGH,
Ferozepur Cantt Board CEO
FEROZEPUR : A former member of Cantonment Board Ferozepur (CBF), Ravi Soi, and five others, have filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court, claiming that electoral rolls of the board were not being prepared in a lawful manner.
A cantonment board looks after civic amenities in the area and is under the control of the Union ministry of defence. Elections for eight civil members of the CBF are slated to be held in February 2020 and are held every five years. The hearing on the petition is scheduled on September 11 (Wednesday).
“The process of preparation of electoral rolls being adopted is totally unjustified, arbitrary, illegal and violative of ‘The Cantonment Electoral Rules 2007’. Therefore, the respondents (the CBF) deserve to be directed to prepare the same strictly as per law,” the petitioners have claimed in the writ.
“In May, names of more than 30,000 voters, including the petitioners, were deleted from the electoral list in an arbitrary manner. We moved an application for inclusion of our names on the electoral list, but even after a special board meeting on June 22, no fruitful result came out,” claimed Soi, a businessman, adding that, as per rules, the electoral rolls are to be prepared in a time-bound manner by July 1.
“If the preparation of electoral rolls is not done in a lawful manner, then after the CBF polls there would be litigation that would be a source of worry for residents and the nominees themselves,” Soi claimed. “The process adopted by respondents is also against the fundamental rights of the petitioners guaranteed under the Constitution of India to vote and to contest election,” their petition adds.
CBF chief executive officer Daman Singh rebuffed all the charges. “We are making every effort to reach out to every individual through special camps in the entire CBF,” he added.
On the revision of electoral rolls, the CEO said, “The electoral rolls were revised as per a judgment of the Supreme Court. This has been an ongoing process since 2016.”