Bihar SIR case: SC allows excluded voters to submit claims with Aadhaar

'Surprised' at limited role of parties in helping voters whose names were deleted

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The Supreme Court on Friday told the Election Commission of India (ECI) to accept, apart from other documents, the Aadhaar card for the “claims and objection stage” of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar. 

 

Stressing that the exercise should be “voter-friendly”, the court said the persons excluded from the draft electoral roll, ahead of the Assembly elections, could submit online applications for inclusion and submitting them in physical form was not necessary.

 

“We will allow online submission of claims of deleted voters with the Aadhaar card or any other acceptable documents for the Bihar SIR,” the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said. 

 

The Aadhaar card was initially not on the ECI’s list of 11 documents that could be accepted as identity proof for voters. 

 

During the hearing, the ECI told the court that 85,000 new voters had been added in the revision, but booth-level agents (BLA) of parties had raised two objections.  

 

The court expressed surprise at political parties’ limited role in helping voters whose names were deleted. 

 

Justice Kant said he was surprised that the parties were not doing anything. 

 

“Political workers are the best persons (for this). Why is there a distance between the people and the local political worker,” he asked. 

 

The court directed political parties to instruct their BLAs to assist voters to file their claims and objections, and applications for inclusion in the electoral roll.

 

Justice Bagchi made a suggestion to the ECI that including the Aadhaar as a relevant document in the stage of claims and objections would mean more time was required for verification. 

 

The matter will be heard again on September 8. 

 

The court is hearing pleas challenging the ECI’s June 24 directive on the SIR.

 

The directive requires voters not listed in the 2003 electoral roll to submit documents proving their citizenship. Those born after December 2004 must also furnish the citizenship documents of both parents, with additional requirements if a parent is a foreign national.

 

The Association For Democratic Reforms, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Lok Sabha Member Mahua Moitra, Rashtriya Janata Dal parliamentarian Manoj Jha, Congress leader K C Venugopal, and former Bihar Assembly member Mujahid Alam are the petitioners in the case.