In an apparent effort to ease the things and tone down the political chaos, the Supreme Court on Friday asked political parties to assist the people who have been excluded from the draft electoral roll during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar.
The Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi expressed surprise that Bihar has over 1.60 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) of political parties, but only two objections have been filed as per the Election Commission of India (ECI).However, it also noted the submission of the political parties that BLAs were not being permitted to submit their objections.
The Court thus directed all the 12 recognised political parties to issue specific instructions to BLAs to assist voters in submitting the requisite forms, along with the 11 documents enlisted by ECI or Aadhaar card, to get themselves included in the voters list.
Pertinently, the Court today impleaded 12 registered political parties in the case which it has been hearing. It also reiterated that individual persons or BLAs are entitled to apply online seeking inclusion in the voter list. It added it would not be necessary to file physical documents.
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The Court asked BLAs to ensure that the 65 lakh names not included in the draft electoral roll, except those who dead or who are not voluntarily in it, are assisted in submitting their objections."Wherever the physical forms are submitted, the booth level officers are directed to acknowledge the form," the Court further ordered.
The Court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the ECI’s June 24 directive ordering an SIR of electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. One of the petitioners, Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), argued that the SIR can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of citizens from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country.
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On the other hand, the ECI defended its June 24 directive, asserting that it has plenary powers under Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 to conduct a revision of electoral rolls.
On August 6, the Court was told that 65 lakh names were dropped from the draft electoral roll published on August 1. The ECI in a response assured the Court that no name will be struck off the draft electoral roll without prior notice, a hearing opportunity and a reasoned order from the competent authority.
On August 14, the Court had directed the ECI to upload the list of 65 lakh voters proposed to be deleted during the SIR. Today, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi told the Court that the ECI has complied with the earlier order in letter and spirit. He said that anyone wrongly excluded from the draft electoral roll can file a form along with supporting documents for correction.
Also Read: SC to EC on Bihar SIR: Accept 11 documents or Aadhaar for voters
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