SIR notices to Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath in Karnataka | India News

Under the ongoing special intensive revision in the state, notices were generated for several prominent voters, including Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath and actor Shivarajkumar, whose names were reportedly flagged as unmapped in the earlier electoral records, officials said on Wednesday.Clarification by Election CommissionThe Election Commission also clarified that Bharat Ratna awardee and renowned scientist Prof CNR Rao’s name was found to have a discrepancy in Bengaluru’s electoral records, but the booth level officer did not issue him a notice and instead recommended that his name be retained in the final roll, the Election Commission (EC) clarified on Wednesday after reports over an alleged SIR notice to Rao triggered a controversy.The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) said on Wednesday that no notice had been issued to Rao, rejecting reports that the scientist had been asked to appear for a hearing over the discrepancy.“No notice has been issued to Bharat Ratna (awardee) Prof CN (R) Rao in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the Malleshwaram assembly constituency,” the GBA said, quoting its chief commissioner and Bengaluru Urban district election officer M Maheshwar Rao.“A discrepancy was noticed in the name of the Hon’ble person in the electoral roll. In view of this, the Booth Level Officer (BLO), without issuing any notice, has recommended inclusion of his name in the final electoral roll, considering him to be a respected person,” the GBA said.Also read: An extra 'F', a big row: EC now says will visit Bharat Ratna CNR Rao's house over SIR noticeNotices for Other Prominent VotersDiscrepancies were also found in Nandan Nilekani, the Infosys co-founder and chairman of EkStep Foundation, and Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha,A notice was generated according to the ECI database but it was not officially confirmed if the notices were issued to them.The name of Kannada film actor Shivarajkumar was also found in the 2002 electoral roll, and the system generated a notice requiring a hearing. However, he was not required to travel to the GBA office with documents, Election officials carried out the verification at his residence.Also read: Is SIR cleaning up rolls or disenfranchising voters? | Number TheorySpecial Arrangements for VIPsA senior ECI official said such an arrangement was available for prominent voters. “We’ve a provision to complete the process for VIPs without their appearance at the hearing. The BLO concerned will complete the process at their doorstep,” the office said.Others included in the category are judges, MPs and MLAs, senior politicians, bureaucrats and people from sports and cinema.Issues for Ordinary VotersFor ordinary voters, however, even minor differences in electoral records have resulted in notices and confusion over what they are required to do.In one case, an elderly Bengaluru resident received a notice because her name appeared with a small formatting difference between the current electoral roll and the 2002 records. She said there was no substantive difference in the spelling and that the variation appeared to have arisen during the preparation of the digital records.In another case in Cooke Town, a tech professional found that a slight difference in the transliteration his name had been treated as a logical discrepancy. “The BLO later explained that the variation had occurred when details from English were converted into Kannada during digitisation. But we had to spend over an hour at the office because of the notice,” he said.Also read: Karnataka SIR: ECI withdraws discrepancy notice issued to Padma Awardee HajabbaChallenges in Reaching OfficialsFor many electors, the larger problem has been finding the official responsible. Details of the BLO and Electoral Registration Officer are available through electoral records and enumeration forms, but voters have said they have struggled to reach them.Some have instead gone to ward offices and polling stations to determine whether a notice has been issued and what they need to do next.Also read: Nearly 1.1mn Delhi voters’ names deleted from January 2025 to June 2026, before SIR beganPublication Issues with NoticesThe publication of the notice lists has not fully resolved the problem. In several cases, the lists did not contain the hearing date, venue or time. Some voters also found that lists uploaded to the Chief Electoral Officer’s website later became inaccessible.Voters have also sought complete copies of notices in English, either online or in physical form. They have asked for copies in both Kannada and English, as assured by Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbu Kumar. The notices, they added, are harder to understand than the enumeration forms because they contain different categories of discrepancies and instructions.