The Supreme Court on Tuesday recognized the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a constitutional body assumed to act in the realm of law. It cautioned, though, that any large-scale exclusion of voters due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar would lead to judicial interference.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi scheduled a detailed hearing on August 12 and 13 to examine a series of petitions challenging the ECI’s SIR process in the state.
Arguing on behalf of the petitioners, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate Prashant Bhushan renewed their apprehension that many voters are being deleted from the draft roll, which the Election Commission is set to release on August 1. They contended that this would lead to the disenfranchisement of otherwise eligible citizens.
Bhushan referred to a press statement by the election authority that 65 lakh people had not returned their enumeration forms, purportedly because they were either dead or had shifted permanently. He said these individuals would now have to file fresh applications to be inducted into the electoral roll.
Justice Kant replied, "The Election Commission of India, being a Constitutional body, is presumed to act in accordance with law. If anything wrong is done, you bring it to the notice of the court. We will hear you."
Justice Bagchi also spoke to Bhushan and said, "Your fear is that 65 lakh-odd voters will not be included in the draft list. Now ECI is asking for correction in electoral roll. We are reviewing the process as judicial authority. If there is bulk exclusion, we will step in forthwith. You bring 15 people whom they claim are dead and are alive."
Kapil Sibal, who represented RJD MP Manoj Jha, said the Election Commission already knows who these 65 lakh people are and can prevent controversy by listing their names in the draft. "If the draft list is scandalously mute, you will bring to our notice," Justice Kant said to the counsel.
In the defence of the poll body, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi assured the court that enumeration forms could be filed even after the publication of the draft roll.
The court asked both parties—the petitioners and the Election Commission—to submit written arguments by August 8, and also named nodal officers from each side to work on filing documents and compilations.
No Stay on Draft List; Court Emphasizes Document Authenticity
A day before this, the top court refused to stay the release of the draft electoral rolls in Bihar, invoking the inherent "presumption of genuineness" surrounding Aadhaar cards and voter IDs. It also reiterated its order to effectively and finally rule on the legitimacy of the SIR exercise of the ECI.
At Monday's hearing, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, sought an interim stay of the August 1 publication, saying finalisation should be postponed. But the bench referred to an earlier order that the petitioners had not previously sought interim relief, and hence such a stay was no longer available.
In a follow-up move on July 10, a separate bench headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia permitted the EC to go ahead with the process of revision but ordered it to accept Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration cards as authentic documents for verification.
The court further observed that the ECI had originally termed the list of documents to be accepted as exclusive, not comprehensive. Nevertheless, the poll body eventually announced that Aadhaar and voter ID are being utilized during the verification process.
Dwivedi elucidated that though Aadhaar is not evidence of citizenship and the voter card by itself is not enough during revision, supporting documents have to be attached. Justice Kant replied, "Any document on earth can be forged. The Election Commission can treat cases of forgery on a case to case basis. Rather than en masse exclusion it has to be en masse inclusion."
In its affidavit, the Election Commission justified the current special revision in Bihar as it was required to purify the electoral rolls by deleting ineligible or non-existent voters. The ECI termed the SIR process as critical for upholding the purity of elections.
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