Will step in if there is mass exclusion in Bihar SIR: Supreme Court to EC

SC says it will intervene if voters are widely excluded from Bihar's draft rolls due August 1, after pleas challenge EC's special intensive revision exercise

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will step in if there was “mass exclusion” of voters ahead of the August 1 release of the draft electoral roll following the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar.

 

The court said that the Election Commission (EC) is a constitutional authority and it is deemed to act in accordance with law, but in case of mass exclusion of voters, the court would have to step in.

 

“The Election Commission of India, being a constitutional authority, is deemed to act in accordance with the law. If any wrongdoing is done, you bring it to the notice of the court. We will hear you,” the court told the petitioners.

 

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi fixed a timeline for considering a batch of pleas challenging the EC's SIR exercise in Bihar, and said that hearing on the issue will be held on August 12 and 13.

 

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, told the court that many people are being left out from the draft list to be published on August 1 by the EC, and they will lose their right to vote.

 

Bhushan said the EC has stated that 65 lakh people had not submitted the enumeration forms during the SIR process, as they are either dead or have permanently shifted elsewhere. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for EC, said that even after the draft list publication, enumeration forms can be filed.

 

The bench then told the parties (petitioners and the EC) to file their submissions by August 8.

 

On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. It told the EC to continue accepting Aadhaar and voter IDs for the SIR of electoral rolls in the state as they have “some sanctity.”

 

The court is hearing pleas challenging the EC’s June 24 directive ordering a special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar.

 

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 court had observed that the petitions raised “an important question which goes to the very root of the functioning of the democracy in the country- the right to vote.”