A number of petitions contesting the ECI’s June 24 order requiring a SIR of electoral records in advance of the next Bihar assembly elections were being heard by the court.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that anyone who was left off of the draft electoral roster during Bihar’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) might challenge their exclusion by submitting their Aadhaar card and the necessary paperwork.
“Any of the 11 documents [mentioned in Form 6 by Election Commission of India (ECI)] or Aadhaar card” can be used to file an objection, according to the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi.
This essentially implies that one can use Aadhaar as documentation to be included to the voter list.
The Court also made it clear that individuals or Booth Level Agents (BLAs) do not have to file hard copies of their objections; they can do so online. Additionally, the Court mandated that booth-level officials issue an acknowledgement receipt for forms that are physically filed.
Additionally, the Court requested that political parties support those left off of the draft electoral roll. It was surprised to learn that only two objections had been raised by political party BLAs.
A number of petitions contesting the ECI’s June 24 order requiring a SIR of electoral records in advance of the next Bihar assembly elections were being heard by the court.
The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), one of the petitioners, contended that the SIR has the power to arbitrarily and without due process deny thousands of voters the right to vote for their representatives, upsetting the nation’s democracy and free and fair elections.
However, the ECI defended its June 24 directive, claiming that it has the authority to revise electoral rolls in accordance with Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The Court was informed on August 6 that 65 lakh names had been removed from the August 1 draft electoral roll. No name will be removed from the draft electoral roll without prior notification, a hearing opportunity, and a reasoned order from the appropriate authorities, the ECI promised the Court in a response.
On August 14, the Court had directed the ECI to upload the list of 65 lakh voters proposed to be deleted during the SIR. The Court was today told that the direction has been complied with.
