Electoral Roll Appeals under Section 24 of the RPA, 1950

Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 provides a statutory appeal against specified decisions concerning entries in electoral rolls. It establishes a two-tier appellate remedy against orders of the Electoral Registration Officer under Sections 22 and 23: a first appeal to a designated district-level authority and a further appeal to the Chief Electoral Officer.

Which electoral-registration orders are appealable?

The remedy is tied to the provision under which the Electoral Registration Officer makes the order, rather than being a general appeal against every electoral decision.

• Section 22 deals with correction of entries, transposition of entries within the constituency's electoral roll, and deletion of entries.
• Section 23 deals with inclusion of names in an electoral roll.
• An order of the Electoral Registration Officer under either provision can be challenged through the appellate mechanism in Section 24.

The two levels of appeal

Section 24(a) provides the first appeal, while Section 24(b) provides a further appeal against the first appellate order.

• The first appeal lies to the District Magistrate, Additional District Magistrate, Executive Magistrate, District Collector, or an officer of equivalent rank, as designated by the Election Commission of India.
• The further appeal lies to the Chief Electoral Officer against the order made by the first appellate authority under clause (a).
• The Electoral Registration Officer makes the original registration decision; the designated district-level authority and the Chief Electoral Officer perform the successive appellate roles.

Procedure and limits of the remedy

Section 24 requires appeals to be filed within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner. The procedural framework is provided by the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, particularly Rule 27.

• A person challenging an original registration order must use the first appellate stage; the Chief Electoral Officer is the authority for the further appeal.
• This remedy concerns electoral-roll registration decisions, not a challenge to an election result, which is addressed through the election-petition framework under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.