Panaji: Forced by Bombay high court, Election Commission has restored Paresh Salgaonkar and five members of his family to the electoral roll with their original EPIC numbers.Their names are back on the rolls of St Cruz constituency, where they now live. Chief electoral officer Sanjay Goel said they were included in the draft roll published Thursday, as directed by the court.The family was struck off during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Their Form 8 for change of address could not be processed because of a glitch in EC’s software.Instead of fixing it, EC told them to fill Form 6, meant for new, first-time voters. The family refused and moved the high court.Last week, the HC gave the electoral registration officer 10 days to restore all six names. It refused EC’s plea to stay the order for two weeks to approach Supreme Court, holding that the right to vote cannot wait for an appeal.The HC held that Salgaonkar was right to file Form 8 for a change of address and EC could not force him to file Form 6, as that would have meant falsely declaring himself a new voter.The court also held that EC could not force him to file the pre-filled SIR enumeration form either, as it carried his old address and would have amounted to another false declaration, exposing him to prosecution.Anticipating an EC appeal, Salgaonkar had filed a caveat in Supreme Court to ensure no ex parte stay was passed without hearing him first.
