India
Pilibhit voter-roll case leads to FIR and wider audit
Election officials now face criminal scrutiny over voter-record controls
Election officials now face criminal scrutiny over voter-record controls
A voter-roll complaint in Pilibhit has led to two officials being removed from their posts, a computer operator being dismissed and a criminal case being filed. The case involves 13,779 applications entered from May 31 to August 29, 2026, during the . Officials approved 10,470 and rejected 3,309. Some approved records had mismatched or duplicate details linked to voter ID numbers. Operator Anil Kumar entered the applications. Mayank Goswami and Hemant Chaudhary supervised the work.
Both officials were sent to district headquarters, and an named all three. This records accusations, not guilt. The ordered checks of additions and deletions made from April 10 through October 21. The review will examine whether the problems came from faulty data entry and poor administration, or were deliberate. It must also protect voters from wrongful additions, deletions or changed records.
The available findings establish data-entry irregularities, administrative failures and disciplinary action, but they do not yet prove coordinated . The broader Form-6 and Form-7 audit is intended to determine whether related additions or deletions contain comparable problems. The criminal investigation and departmental proceedings remain separate from the final determination of responsibility.
The District Election Officer was directed to examine all entries used to add voters and all entries used to delete voters. The review covers the period from the end of on April 10 through October 21, 2026. This expands the inquiry beyond Form-8 corrections to other ways the electoral roll may have changed.
On the basis of the inquiry, authorities registered an against Goswami, Chaudhary and Kumar, following a complaint by an election official. The case moved the matter from departmental action into a criminal investigation. An records allegations and starts investigation, it is not a finding of guilt.
Officials dismissed Anil Kumar after an inquiry found that he had entered 13,779 applications for voter-detail changes between May 31 and August 29, 2026. The inquiry reported irregularities in the approved entries.
Authorities removed Goswami and Chaudhary from their SDM posts and attached them to the Pilibhit district headquarters. The action followed the inquiry’s findings and was an administrative accountability measure. It did not by itself determine criminal guilt or prove that either officer intentionally falsified voter records.
The final electoral roll following Uttar Pradesh’s was published on April 10, 2026. The inquiry examined Form-8 changes made from May 31 to August 29 and ordered scrutiny of related entries made after the revision.
Mayank Goswami and Hemant Chaudhary served as for the relevant areas. The inquiry found lapses linked to the processing of Form-8 applications, and departmental and legal action was initiated against them.
Of the 13,779 Form-8 applications, 10,470 were approved and 3,309 were rejected. The investigation identified irregularities in the approved entries, including problems with the and . The finding concerns the handling of the applications and does not establish that every affected applicant acted improperly.
A complaint alleged that searches for some s in Pilibhit Sadar displayed other voters’ details. The district inquiry confirmed discrepancies in some records, prompting directions to correct them and review electoral rolls across the district.
The inquiry found that the computer operator entered 13,779 applications in Pilibhit Assembly Constituency 127 between May 31 and August 29. is used to request corrections or updates to an existing voter’s details. Investigators reported that corresponding forms or records were not available in the office for the entries.