PANAJI: Former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash (retd), a Vir Chakra awardee for his role in the 1971 India-Pakistan War, has been issued a notice by the Election Commission of India (ECI) under its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asking him to attend a hearing to establish his identity.
Admiral Prakash, who has been settled in Goa since his retirement nearly two decades ago, received a “hearing notice” generated under the SIR process, requiring him to appear before the electoral officer. The development came to light after the decorated Navy veteran flagged the issue on social media.
Clarifying the matter, South Goa District Collector and Returning Officer Egna Cleetus said that Admiral Prakash’s name did not appear in the voter list last updated in 2002 and that he had been categorised as “unmapped.”
“This is what is happening in most such cases. Admiral Prakash falls in the unmapped category,” Cleetus said. She added that she would examine the enumeration form submitted by the former Navy chief on Monday and that authorities would reach out to him.
Responding on X, Admiral Prakash said he had no grievance about complying with due process. “I neither need, nor have ever asked for any special privileges since retirement 20 yrs ago. My wife and I had filled the SIR forms as reqd & were pleased to see our names figured in the Goa Draft Electoral Roll 2026 on the EC website. We will, however, comply with EC notices,” he wrote.
In a subsequent post, the 82-year-old veteran raised concerns about the procedure, suggesting improvements in the SIR mechanism.
“May I point out to @ECIVEEP that (a) if the SIR forms are not evoking reqd info they should be revised; (b) the BLO visited us 3 times & could have asked for additional info; (c) we are an 82/78 yr old couple & have been asked to appear on 2 different dates 18 km away!!” he posted.
Admiral Prakash is not the only decorated serviceman to have received such a notice. Kargil war veteran and South Goa Member of Parliament Captain Viriato Fernandes has also been issued an ECI notice after being categorised as “unmapped” during the SIR exercise.
