On Thursday, the Gujarat High Court instructed the State Election Commission to add a resident of the Chharvada assembly constituency to the electoral roll for the upcoming Vapi Municipal Corporation elections, which are set for April 26. This directive came after it was discovered that his name had been improperly omitted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

The ruling was delivered by a division bench comprising Justice NSS Gowda and Justice JL Odedra, marking the second similar order issued within the same week. The case was brought forward by Shashankkumar Mishra, who asserted that his name was removed from the voter list for the Chharvada constituency in December 2025. He claimed that, at his request, it was reinstated in the preliminary electoral rolls dated February 17, 2026. Despite this inclusion, Mishra found that his name was still absent from the electoral roll prepared for the Vapi Municipal Corporation.

During the proceedings, Mishra argued that once his name was entered in the assembly constituency’s electoral roll—which serves as the basis for the municipal roll—it should not have been removed. He highlighted that he resides on the fourth floor of an apartment in Ward No. 5 of the Vapi civic area, noting that all other residents of his building were included in the electoral roll except for him.

In its ruling, the High Court stated, “The [authority] is directed to include the name of the petitioner in the electoral roll concerning Ward No. 5 of the Vapi Municipal Corporation. Consequently, the petitioner will also have the right to submit his nomination for the upcoming elections if he wishes to do so.”

The revised electoral roll is scheduled for publication on Friday. Mishra further referenced specific page numbers to demonstrate to the court that the names of his neighbors from the apartment complex had been validated as voters, as noted in the court’s order. This assertion was made in response to the State Election Commission’s argument that Mishra’s name was excluded because the “notified area” under which it had appeared was “clearly beyond the geographical boundaries” of the Vapi civic body.

Aditi Raja serves as an Assistant Editor for The Indian Express in Vadodara, Gujarat, and has over two decades of experience in journalism. Since 2013, she has been covering the Central Gujarat and Narmada district regions, establishing herself as a credible authority on local political, administrative, and significant socio-economic and environmental issues.

Her expertise encompasses a deep understanding of the intricate elements shaping Central Gujarat, which is home to a sizable tribal population. Raja focuses on various areas, including:

• Politics and Administration: She provides thorough analyses of the internal dynamics among political factions and their implications for the region, as well as highlights visits from national leaders and government policy decisions affecting local communities.
• Key Regional Projects: Raja consistently reports on the socio-economic and political ramifications of infrastructure initiatives in the area, including the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, and the National Highway developments.
• Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting delves into sensitive human-interest stories, addressing issues of gender, crime, and tribal matters, alongside legal cases from district courts and the Gujarat High Court.
• Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Raja excels at documenting the effects of events on communities, including the implications of the Vadodara floods and related civic issues.
• Special Interest Beat: She covers matters concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs), including crime and legal challenges abroad, as well as issues of illegal immigration and social events that connect the local Gujarati experience with the global diaspora.

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