Delhi SIR: Notice to several important personalities including Election Commissioner Sindhu, Jaishankar, Vikram Misri and Advani

New Delhi: During the special in-depth review (SIR) of the voter list in Delhi, the names of many important political figures along with current and retired senior officials have appeared in the list of notices issued by the Election Commission. Among them are Election Commissioner SS Sindhu, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani. According to reports, notices have been issued to SS Sindhu based on the spelling difference in the voter record, while some others including Vikram Misri have been added to the notice list due to their names not being mapped to the previous SIR records. Names of Jaishankar and his wife KS Jaishankar are also among those who have received notices.
Other important figures who have received notices include Sebi Chairman Lakhkant Pandey, Prime Minister's Principal Scientific Advisor Ajay Sood, Health Secretary Punia Salila, Fisheries Department Secretary Abhalashia Lakhi, his wife Sukti Lakhi, Food Secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra and Land Resources Secretary Narendra Bhushan. Ex-CAG Sanjay Murthy, former NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Pangarhiya, UGC chairman M Jagdish Kumar, former secretary Alka Upadhyay, Rohit Kumar Singh, Naina Singh, Giri Dhar Armane and Leena Nandan are among the former officers.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani is also reported to have been sent a notice. His name is marked as unmapped from the old voter record of 2002. Apart from this, the names of Congress MP Kapil Sibal and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi are also included in the notice list. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are also among those who have received notices under the SIR. Notices have been issued to five family members, including Kejriwal, his wife, son and parents under the 'unapplied with last SIR' category. According to reports, most of the officers' government houses are in the Moti Bagh area, which is part of the Delhi Cantt assembly constituency. Notices have been sent to 593 voters of this booth. Another issue that has come up during this process is that the name of former member of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Bobby Debroy, is also included in the notice list, although he had passed away in 2024.
During the SIR in Delhi, a total of around 47 lakh names were removed from the draft voter list, while more than 33 lakh voters were issued notices based on various reasons. The voters who have received the notice must appear before the concerned election officer and claim to be a voter and present the necessary documents. According to the Election Commission, verification process is being started in case of mismatch of current details with the old election record in the SIR, difference in spelling of the name or other inconsistencies. A name search facility is also available on the Commission's website from the last SIR record of 2002/2003.