Karnataka: FIR against ex-BJP MLA for using fake death certificates to delete Muslim voters

The Vijayapura police in Karnataka have registered separate FIRs against expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and BJP corporator Girish Patil over allegations that they submitted forged documents and false information to get the names of living Muslim voters deleted from electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Jalanagar police registered an FIR against Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on October 8 following a complaint by Abdulrazak Moulasab, a 50-year-old vegetable trader from Bagawan Colony in Vijayapura. The complainant alleged that a false death certificate was submitted to the Vijayapura City Corporation along with a letter purportedly issued on the MLA's official letterhead, claiming that he had died.

According to the complaint, Abdulrazak is a registered voter in Vijayapura City Assembly constituency. He alleged that the documents were submitted on September 3 to facilitate the deletion of his name from the electoral roll.

The FIR has been registered under sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery) and 340(2) (forged document) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. 

In a separate case, Gandhi Chowk police registered an FIR on October 6 against BJP corporator Girish Patil, a close associate of Basanagouda, following a complaint by Javeed Jakirahmed Indikar, a 32-year-old businessman from Vijayapura.

Indikar alleged that Girish Patil submitted Form 7 to the Booth Level Officer (BLO), seeking the deletion of his name from the electoral roll on the grounds that he had permanently moved away from his registered address. He claimed that the application was supported by fabricated documents, despite his being a permanent resident of the area.

The FIR invokes sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(4) (forgery), 340(2) (forged document), 192 (intent to cause riot), 196(1) (promoting enmity), 196(2), 353(2) (public mischief) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS. 

Police are investigating both cases and examining the documents allegedly submitted to seek the deletion of the voters' names.

Eight Muslim women allegedly declared dead

The FIRs come amid shocking allegations in Vijayapura that living voters were falsely declared dead during the SIR exercise in Karnataka.

Eight Muslim women from Vijayapura recently alleged that their names had been marked for deletion after they were shown as deceased in documents submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI). They demanded criminal action against the former BJP legislator and others allegedly involved in submitting the documents.

The women raised the allegations at a press conference organised by Jagrutha Karnataka, a social-political organisation, on October 7. They displayed copies of death certificates and other documents that they alleged had been used to declare them dead.

Representatives of the organisation alleged that Basanagouda had submitted a list of voters in a letter dated August 31, a week after the draft electoral rolls were published on August 24. They asked how details of voters across 198 polling stations could have been matched with those of deceased persons within such a short period.

The organisation also asked how colour photographs from the voters' identity cards had been obtained, alleging that these were available in ECI records.

Jagrutha Karnataka convener H V Vasu alleged that Basanagouda had submitted a list containing the names of 1,054 people, but death certificates had been attached in only eight cases.

A local journalist Irfan Sheikh has alleged that 13,000 printed Form 7 applications had been submitted to municipal authorities in two batches of 5,000 and 8,000.

He claimed that the applications were withdrawn on the same evening after the ECI sought an endorsement concerning the self-declaration accompanying them. He alleged that the withdrawal was intended to prevent the alleged irregularities from coming to light.

Form 7 is used to seek the deletion of a name from the electoral roll, including on grounds such as death, absence or a voter permanently shifting residence.