Gujarat HC directs inclusion of voter’s name in Vapi Municipal Corporation electoral roll

Gujarat High Court has directed the Valsad District Election Officer to include the name of petitioner Shashan Kumar Mishra in the electoral roll for Ward No. 5 of the Vapi Municipal Corporation.

As a necessary consequence, the petitioner shall also be entitled to file his nomination paper for the forthcoming municipal elections, if he so desires, the high court said.

The division bench of the high court passed the order while hearing a petition filed by petitioner, who sought directions to the State Election Commission to include his name in the electoral roll of Ward No. 5 for the upcoming Vapi Municipal Corporation elections.

According to the petitioner, his name was listed in the Chharvada Assembly Constituency electoral roll, which serves as the basis for preparing the municipal corporation's voter list. However, his name was erroneously excluded while preparing the Vapi Municipal Corporation electoral roll.

The petitioner informed the court that his name had been deleted from the Chharvada Assembly Constituency in December 2025, but was subsequently included again on February 17, 2026, at his request.

Counsel for the State Election Commission argued that the petitioner's name had been entered in the electoral rolls of a notified area that falls outside the geographical limits of the Vapi Municipal Corporation, and therefore the exclusion could not be faulted.

On the other hand, the petitioner's counsel submitted that the petitioner is a resident of Rajmoti-2 Complex. He pointed out that residents of the same block—those living on the first, second, and third floors—were included in the electoral roll for Ward No. 5, but the petitioner's name, despite residing on the fourth floor, was left out.

The division bench observed that since the entire residents of Rajmoti-2 Complex have been included in the electoral roll of Ward No. 5 of the Vapi Municipal Corporation, and the petitioner's name is admittedly part of the Chharvada Assembly Constituency electoral roll (which forms the basis for the municipal roll), his name must also be included.