The Supreme Court has criticised Bihar’s political parties for their inaction in helping citizens excluded from the draft electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process to file claims and objections.
According to various reports, a two-judge bench led by Justice Surya Kant directed 12 political parties to issue clear instructions to their workers, urging them to assist people in filing complaints using any of the 11 documents listed by the Election Commission or an Aadhaar card. The court clarified that it would not alter the existing timeline for the revision process at this stage.
On this count, Gujarat too doesn’t have a clean slate. We may recall that in June the Election Commission ordered repolling at two polling stations in Visavadar assembly constituency in Gujarat, with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) reportedly complaining of bogus voting and booth capturing.
In Gujarat, during the 2016 Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation elections, there were reports that the entire residential societies belonging to the Patidar community had been removed from the electoral rolls at the last moment.
There also exists a perception among the public that during the 2017 Assembly elections—when various sections of society were protesting and widespread opposition to the government was visible—the BJP still secured victory through what was perceived was an undemocratic process.
Moving on to the scenario in Bihar, the court expressed surprise when it was informed by the Election Commission that Bihar had more than 1.68 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties, yet only two objections had been submitted so far. This revelation came despite strong criticism from opposition parties, which have alleged that the SIR process could potentially disenfranchise lakhs of voters. Approximately 65 lakh names were removed from the draft electoral rolls published by the Election Commission on August 1.
During a previous hearing, the court had stated that individuals whose names were deleted from the draft list could challenge the deletion by submitting their Aadhaar cards. Justice Surya Kant reiterated that all 12 political parties in Bihar must instruct their workers to assist people in submitting the necessary forms with any of the 11 acceptable documents or their Aadhaar card.
The court also directed that BLAs of all political parties must check whether the 65 lakh individuals omitted from the draft rolls were actually deceased, had voluntarily shifted their residence, or were simply not facilitated in the process.
The top court made pointed remarks questioning the effectiveness of the political parties’ engagement with voters. It asked why there was such a disconnect between the public and local political representatives, noting that after appointing so many booth-level agents, their inactivity was unacceptable.
Political parties, represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued that their BLAs were not being allowed to submit objections. Taking note of this claim, the court impleaded 12 registered political parties into the case.
Justice Kant further said that both individuals and BLAs could file objections online. Additionally, he directed that wherever physical forms were submitted, the booth-level officers must provide an acknowledgment.
These directions were issued by the Supreme Court during the hearing of a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission’s SIR exercise in Bihar, which is set to go to polls later this year.
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