Telangana Family Register Certificate use for SIR challenged in HC

Hyderabad: The use of the newly launched Telangana Family Register Certificate for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been challenged in the High Court.

A batch of writ petitions challenged the inclusion of the certificate as a valid document for the SIR, stating that it is based solely on the Food Security Card database.

They also stated that it is intended for availing government services, not for voter enrolment under the SIR.

Exclude Telangana Family Register Certificate for SIR

The petitioners have requested that the court declare the inclusion of the certificate under Item No. 10 of the SIR guidelines illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional. Directions to restrain the Election Commission from accepting the certificate as proof of eligibility for voter enrolment have also been sought. Responding to it, the Standing Counsel for the Election Commission of India (ECI) sought some time to obtain instructions.

After hearing both sides, the Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, scheduled the next hearing for August 12.

What is the certificate?

The Telangana Family Register is a single document that lists the details of an entire family and, as of now, is also a valid document for the SIR.

For each family unit, it carries a Family Register Identification Number, which is the same as the family’s ration card number, along with the name of the head of the family and every member, each member’s relationship to the head, age, date of birth, gender, Aadhaar number, and the family’s present address.

The register is built on the Food Security Card (ration card) database maintained by the Civil Supplies Department.

The Tehsildar of the mandal in which the family’s address appears in that database is the authority who issues the certificate.

As the Family Register is one of the 12 documents that the Election Commission of India (ECI) accepts during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), it is particularly useful for Telangana voters who could not find any link to voters in the 2002 list.