LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa on Friday sought explanations from Pilibhit’s incumbent district election officer (DEO) Alok Kumar and his predecessor Gyanendra Singh over their supervisory responsibilities after an inquiry revealed that 10,470 erroneously entered voter-related forms were approved in Pilibhit assembly constituency (AC-127).The move marks an attempt to fix accountability at the district election officer level for irregularities in electoral roll management, rather than confining scrutiny to officials directly handling voter registration applications.According to the CEO’s office, the explanations have been sought in view of the duties and responsibilities assigned to district election officers under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Manual on Electoral Rolls, 2023.The inquiry was initiated following complaints that Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers of several voters were displaying details belonging to other electors.The investigation revealed that 13,779 erroneous forms were entered between May 31 and Aug 29, 2026, of which 10,470 were approved, accounting for nearly 76% of the faulty entries.Rinwa’s office emphasised that maintaining the accuracy and credibility of electoral rolls was a major responsibility of district election officers.He further asserted that necessary action would be ensured under the prescribed rules whenever errors or irregularities were detected in electoral rolls.Rinwa maintained that “Pilibhit voter roll lapses is not an error or negligence. It was a crime. It was done deliberately.”The FIR, registered at Kotwali police station in Pilibhit against Mayank Goswami, then sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Amaria and ERO; Hemant Kumar, then SDM and ERO; and Anil Kumar, computer assistant (VRC operator), after an investigation found that 10,470 voter records were altered without supporting applications, months after the final electoral roll was published on April 10 following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).The three have been booked under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Section 201 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
