Supreme Court raps parties for ‘inaction’ over missing Bihar voters, tells EC to accept Aadhaar or any 11 documents
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Supreme Court raps parties for ‘inaction’ over missing Bihar voters, tells EC to accept Aadhaar or any 11 documents")
The Supreme Court of India Photograph: (PTI)
The Supreme Court expressed surprise after the Election Commission said that Bihar has over 1.68 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) of political parties, but only two objections have been filed so far despite vehement criticism of the electoral roll revision by the opposition.
The Supreme Court on Friday rapped the political parties over their inaction in assisting the people of Bihar who were left out of the draft electoral rolls during the special intensive revision (SIR) in filing claims and objections. The top court expressed surprise at the lack of involvement by political parties in correcting names of voters deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The apex court’s remarks came after the Election Commission said none of the major political parties in Bihar filed any objections over the draft rolls.
The top court also said that claim forms can be submitted along with Aadhaar card or any other 11 acceptable documents.
The top court expressed surprise after the poll body said Bihar had over 1.68 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) of political parties, but only two objections have been filed so far despite vehement criticism by the opposition. Around 65 lakh voters have been dropped from the draft electoral rolls published by the ECI on August 1.
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The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi resumed hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR exercise. The petitions were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.
“All 12 political parties in Bihar shall issue specific directions to party workers to assist people in filing and submission of requisite forms with any 11 documents in Form 6 or Aadhaar card,” the bench said.
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“We will allow online submission of claims of deleted voters with Aadhaar card or any other acceptable documents for Bihar SIR,” said the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi.
“All the political parties shall file the status report by the next date of hearing on the claim form they had facilitated in filing by excluded voters,” the bench added and posted the matter for hearing on September 8.
During the hearing, the Election Commission informed the court that while 85,000 new voters had been added in the ongoing revision, only two objections had been filed by booth-level agents of political parties.
On August 14, the Election Commission uploaded details of 65 lakh deleted voters from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls on district magistrates’ websites, following a Supreme Court order.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had said at a press conference that Electoral Registration Officers and Booth Level Officers bear responsibility for the accuracy of rolls, which are shared digitally and physically with parties and the public. Draft rolls in Bihar, published on August 1, remain open for claims and objections until September 1.
Defending the exercise, Kumar said it was a “matter of grave concern” that some parties were spreading “misinformation”, stressing that India’s election system is a “multi-layered, decentralised construct as envisaged by law.”
In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court said it could set aside the results of the special intensive revision if illegality was proven. The hearing will continue, with the final rolls due on September 30.
