The Supreme Court of India has told the Election Commission of India (ECI) to send a “comprehensive reply” by August 9 about the removal of more than 65 lakh names from the draft electoral lists in Bihar. This order was made during a hearing of an application made by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental group that works to improve elections. The next hearing in the case, which has become a significant political flashpoint, is set for August 12.
People are looking closely at ECI because of its lack of transparency and due process.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan represents ADR and has severe reservations about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying that it isn’t clear how it works or what the rules are. Bhushan said that the ECI’s draft list, which came out on August 1, didn’t give important information about the voters who were taken off the list, like whether they had died, moved away, or been taken off for other reasons. He also said that political parties were not allowed to see the lists at the block level, which is a normal procedure.
Bhushan further said that in many cases, names were added or taken off without the advice of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and that more than 75% of new additions didn’t have the right papers. He gave examples of entries that were created without BLO approval, which raised more questions about the process’s honesty.
However, the ECI’s lawyer denied these claims, saying that the draft roster was shared with political parties and made public. In response, Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N Kotiswar Singh told the ECI to give them a list of the political parties that got the draft rolls so that the petitioners could check the information.
The Court Stresses Inclusion, Not Exclusion
The Supreme Court has already talked on this issue before. The court had previously declined to stop the release of the draft rolls in a hearing on July 28. However, they had stressed that the SIR exercise must encourage “en masse inclusion, not mass exclusion.” The bench also told the ECI to treat papers like Aadhaar and Election Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) as if they were real, saying that any forgery could be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
ADR and other groups are challenging the ECI’s notice for the SIR exercise. They say that the requirement for a limited collection of 11 specified papers for verification has no legal foundation and could keep a lot of qualified voters, especially those from underprivileged populations, from voting. They have also asked constitutional questions regarding whether the ECI has the right to do such a modification and check citizenship.
The issue has even made its way into politics, with the Opposition’s INDIA bloc stepping up protests in Parliament and calling for a discussion about it.