Not required by law to provide list of people not included in draft electoral roll, EC says in response to ADR plea

Indian Express

10 hours ago

The Election Commission on Saturday informed the Supreme Court that it was not required by law to publish a list of electors whose names have been removed from the electoral rolls of Bihar, opposing a petitioner's plea for it to release the names and details of the 65 lakh electors who did not make it to the draft published on August 1.
In its reply to the Association for Democratic Reforms' application, the EC said the draft roll had been published on the basis of the enumeration forms received and that 'no inquiry' had been done at this stage.
ADR had on August 5 filed an application seeking directions to EC to publish not just the names, but the reasons for deleting 65 lakh electors at the draft stage. Under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of rolls in Bihar, which ADR and others have challenged in the court, the EC announced that out of 7.89 crore electors, 7.24 crore had made it to be draft roll, with the remaining found to be dead, permanently migrated, enrolled in multiple places or untraceable.
In its reply filed late Saturday night, the commission cited the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which say that a copy of the draft roll is to be made available for inspection outside the Electoral Registration Officer's office and the ERO is required to make each part of the draft accessible to the public in the respective areas, and give two copies to each recognised party.
'That it is an admitted position that the Respondent has complied with the aforestated obligations. It is submitted that the statutory framework does not require the Respondent to prepare or share any separate list of names of people not included in the draft electoral rolls, or publish the reasons for non-inclusion of anyone in the draft electoral rolls for any reason,' the EC said.
It added that neither the law nor the guidelines provide for preparation or sharing of any such lists.
'…no such list can be sought by the petition as a matter of right. This position is in harmony with the scheme of the Rules, Statute and the guidelines for the following reasons: flrstly, that no inquiry is done for the inclusion of anyone's name in the draft rolls, and each and every individual whose, Enumeration Form, has been received, has been included in the draft rolls, without any reservation or exception,' the EC said.
It added that those whose names have not been included in the draft roll, can submit a Form 6, which is the EC's form for registration of new electors, by September 1.
'It is implicit in the filing of Form 6 along with the Declaration by an individual, whose name was not included in the draft roll for non-submission of Enumeration Form, that he/she claims to be neither deceased, nor permanently shifted, nor untraceable,' the EC said.
Damini Nath is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. She covers the housing and urban affairs and Election Commission beats. She has 11 years of experience as a reporter and sub-editor. Before joining The Indian Express in 2022, she was a reporter with The Hindu's national bureau covering culture, social justice, housing and urban affairs and the Election Commission. ... Read More