Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday expressed surprise at the lack of participation by political parties in helping voters whose names were deleted during Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The bench ruled that deleted voters can now file claims online using Aadhaar or any of 11 other acceptable identity documents.
Court’s Observations
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said the earlier restriction was too rigid and emphasised that the voter-friendly approach must prevail. The court directed all political parties to submit a status report by the next hearing, detailing how many claims they had facilitated on behalf of excluded voters. The matter will be heard again on September 8.
ECI’s Position and Data
The Election Commission informed the court that while 85,000 new voters had been added during the revision process, booth-level agents of political parties filed only two objections in total. This low level of involvement drew sharp remarks from the bench. On August 14, following a Supreme Court directive, the ECI had uploaded details of 65 lakh deleted voters from Bihar’s draft rolls onto district magistrates’ websites, ensuring transparency.
Petitioners’ Arguments
The petitions, filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, ADR, PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, and former MLA Mujahid Alam, challenged the ECI’s June 24 directive that required many voters to furnish proof of citizenship. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued that the exclusion of 65 lakh voters was unlawful, while Prashant Bhushan criticised the EC for making the rolls non-searchable. The court, however, observed that “everybody possesses some certificate” and stressed practicality in verifying claims.
Looking Ahead
The Supreme Court has left open the possibility of setting aside the SIR results if illegality is proven. Draft rolls published on August 1 remain open for claims and objections until September 1, and final rolls are scheduled for release on September 30. The upcoming hearing will determine how effectively the corrective process is carried out and whether political parties step up their involvement.
