Archive · 4 Sep 2026
Delhi High Court Limits Booth Agents’ Electoral Verification Liability
The Delhi High Court decided what political party booth agents must check on voter forms.
The court said they do not have to verify every piece of information.
They are responsible only for details they can personally check.
One example is seeing whether the photograph matches the elector’s identity.
The case involved a revision of electoral rolls called the Special Intensive Revision.
Congress representatives challenged a rule requiring them to promise they had checked all the details.
They said government election officers, not party representatives, are supposed to carry out the formal verification.
The court said false declarations can lead to imprisonment, a fine, or both.
The Delhi High Court ruled that booth level agents are not responsible for verifying every detail in electoral enumeration forms.
Justice Amit Bansal said BLAs can be liable only for information they can personally verify, such as matching a photograph with an elector’s identity.
The ruling concerns the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The court heard a petition by Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee leaders challenging a required personal undertaking from BLAs.
The petition argued that statutory verification belongs to Electoral Registration Officers under Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
- Who
- The Delhi High Court, Justice Amit Bansal, booth level agents, and petitioners including Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav.
- What
- The court ruled that booth level agents are liable only for information they can personally verify, rather than all details in enumeration forms.
- When
- Thursday; the articles do not specify the date.
- Where
- The Delhi High Court in New Delhi.
- Why
- The decision followed a challenge to a requirement that booth level agents personally certify they had verified all details in electoral enumeration forms.
Petitioners’ Position
Challenged Verification Requirement
Who should conduct formal verification?
Petitioners’ Position
The petitioners argued that electoral-roll verification must be conducted by statutory officers, particularly the Electoral Registration Officer, under Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Challenged Verification Requirement
The challenged mandate required political party booth level agents to provide a personal undertaking certifying that they had verified all details in the enumeration forms.
Whether BLAs can be made responsible for all details
Petitioners’ Position
The petitioners said the Representation of the People Act and the Registration of Electors Rules do not authorize requiring BLAs to make such an undertaking.
Challenged Verification Requirement
The requirement treated BLAs as personally responsible for verifying the details, although the court limited their liability to information they could actually verify.
- Court
- Delhi High Court
- Judge
- Justice Amit Bansal
- Electoral exercise
- Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls
- BLA responsibility
- Verification of information personally verifiable by the agent, including photograph-and-identity matching
- Relevant provisions
- Section 31 and Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950
- False-declaration penalty
- Imprisonment for up to one year, a fine, or both
- Petitioners
- Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav and the chairman of its booth management committee
