Will scrap SIR if illegality found in methodology, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has said Bihar's voter roll revision will be invalidated if illegalities are found in the Election Commission's process, with its ruling to apply nationwide

The Supreme Court on Monday said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar would be struck down if any illegality was found in the Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) methodology.

 

The court also made it clear that its verdict would apply nationwide.

 

“We are proceeding on the presumption that the ECI is acting in accordance with law. But if constitutional safeguards are compromised, the entire exercise will be invalidated,” a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed while fixing October 7 for the final hearing.

 

“What difference will the final publication of the list make to us if we are satisfied there is some illegality?” Justice Kant remarked during the hearing. 

 

The court said it could not give a piecemeal opinion about only one state (Bihar). 

 

The Bench was hearing a plea seeking recall of its September 8 order, which had directed the poll panel to accept Aadhaar as the 12th identity document for the revision. 

 

The Aadhaar card was initially not on the ECI’s list of 11 documents that could be accepted as identity proof for voters. The court had said on September 8 that though Aadhaar was not proof of citizenship, the ECI can verify its genuineness when submitted.

 

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.

 

The Supreme 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, academic 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.