HC declines Vinu’s plea for voter list inclusion; SEC restores Vyshna Suresh’s name

In a day of fluctuating fortunes for the Congress, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by the party’s mayoral candidate for Kozhikode, filmmaker V.M. Vinu, challenging the deletion of his name from the electoral roll for the local body elections.

But the same day brought relief on another front when the State Election Commission (SEC) restored the name of Vyshna Suresh, the Congress candidate in the Muttada ward of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, following High Court intervention.

Mr. Vinu had contended that he had been a resident of Kozhikode for over two decades and that his name appeared on the voters’ list for the Lok Sabha elections. When he discovered that his name was missing from the voters’ list for the upcoming local body elections, he had approached the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of Kozhikode and apprised him of the facts, only to be told that the timeframe for additions had expired.

He alleged that his name had been removed purposely because he stood a strong chance of winning. 

The court observed that he ought to have raised his objection at the appropriate stage, as multiple opportunities had been provided for revision of the electoral roll from July until as recently as November 4 and 5. The petitioner had only himself to blame for the exclusion, as he had chosen not to avail himself of these opportunities, the court said.

In the case of Ms. Suresh, the SEC issued orders directing the ERO of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to reinstate Ms. Suresh’s name in Part No. 5 of the rolls for the Corporation’s Muttada ward on Wednesday itself. 

The decision brought relief to the Congress, which had strongly protested against the election officials’ decision to remove her name, which could have disqualified her candidature.

The Commission had heard Ms. Suresh on Tuesday following a directive from the Kerala High Court the previous day. It said that the ERO’s November 15 decision to “unilaterally remove the petitioner’s (Vaishna S.L. as per the petition) name” stood cancelled because the official had failed to consider the documents presented by her or to follow the laid-down procedures. 

On a complaint lodged by Dhanesh Kumar, Ms. Suresh’s name had been excluded on the grounds that she was not a resident of house no. TC 18/564 in Muttada ward. The commission noted, however, that this decision rested on an old house number mistakenly provided by the petitioner.

There was no justification for removing her name on these grounds, it observed. 

Ms. Suresh pointed out that her name had been present on the voters’ list for Muttada published on September 2 and October 25.

At the hearing held on November 12 in connection with the proposed removal of her name, the complainant was neither present nor had he furnished any document to substantiate his claim. Despite this, the ERO had proceeded to exclude her from the list.

The commission noted that the petitioner’s EPIC card, driving licence, Aadhaar card, passport, and bank passbook all mentioned her as a resident of TC No. 3/564, Sudha Bhavan, PRA 65, Muttada. She had simply failed to update the house number, which had since been changed to 18/2365. Neither the inquiry officer nor the hearing officer had established that she did not reside at the aforesaid address, the commission said.