Pilibhit voter list irregularities: UP election office orders FIR and removes officials

Election authorities in Uttar Pradesh have cracked down on electoral roll irregularities in the Pilibhit Assembly Constituency, ordering criminal proceedings against officials and terminating outsourced data staff following an internal inquiry.

The action, directed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer, targets both current and former officials tasked with maintaining voter rolls for Assembly Constituency 127 – Pilibhit. An inquiry confirmed that thousands of online voter profile modifications were submitted without corresponding physical paperwork, demonstrating rapid administrative accountability once discrepancies came to light.

What happened in Pilibhit

The probe was triggered after reports emerged that searching specific Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers online generated details of entirely different voters. An official inquiry report by the District Election Officer established that between 31 May 2026 and 29 August 2026, a computer operator assigned to the Pilibhit voter registration centre entered 13,779 Form-8 applications into the system to alter existing voter data.

A physical audit of the records revealed that none of the 13,779 entries were backed by corresponding paper forms in the constituency office archives. Despite the lack of documentation, thousands of applications were cleared through the portal.

Strict legal and departmental action

Moving decisively to safeguard the sanctity of electoral data, the Election Commission of India instructed district authorities to pursue charges under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, alongside relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The statute penalises electoral registration officials for breach of official duty.

The state election office ordered the immediate termination of the computer support staff member responsible for logging the unverified changes. Legal action and departmental proceedings were also mandated against the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) holding jurisdiction during the period of the entries.

Authorities have further directed an investigation into the role of relevant assistant electoral registration officers, demanding an expedited report.

Thorough audit ordered across constituency rolls

To ensure complete transparency and clean records, the District Election Officer has ordered an immediate audit of all other voter addition and deletion forms submitted in Pilibhit over recent months. Computer staff must review every Form 6 application for new voter registration and every Form 7 submission for deletion processed between 10 April 2026 and 21 October 2026.

The state election commission noted that all flagged entries in the electoral rolls are being corrected under established statutory guidelines.

The administrative intervention follows claims raised earlier in the week by the Congress party, which alleged that details tied to 13,150 voter IDs in Pilibhit Sadar had been manipulated while retaining their original serial and EPIC numbers.