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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Bihar SIR: Bench sends a reminder on right to vote, fairness and transparency
Underlining the right of enfranchisement, the Supreme Court Thursday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure fairness and transparency in the process, even as it allowed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. 'Let's proceed on the premise that you have the power to go for SIR. Going by that, there are 7.90 crore voters in January 2025. Of them, 7.24 crore have already filled forms and remaining are 65 lakh. Out of 65 lakh, you say 22 lakh are dead. You must have heard there are serious disputes on whether someone is dead or alive. What is the mechanism to know these people so that the family can know their member has been included as dead in the list?,' Justice Surya Kant observed. 'You (EC) are exercising the power of intensive survey as a preliminary enquiry into every voter identity. The powers (to do so) are prima facie traceable, so we do not wish to interdict… but your manner has to be reasonable, has to give certain comfort to citizens. Should not strain a person to become eligible,' Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who was also part of the bench, said. This line of questioning from the bench concluded with the EC's counsel, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, agreeing to publish a list of voters who could potentially be deleted from the rolls. 'Since this action can have some civil consequences of depriving a citizen or a person of the right to franchise, therefore, fair procedure is required,' Justice Kant said. Justice Bagchi also emphasised on a citizen's fundamental right to know why he or she has been deleted from the voter list. 'A departure from the process is only permissible in a special circumstance. Let's say the SIR is a special circumstance but the SOP requires you to give publicity and ensure opportunity to persons to appeal. It is a fundamental right to know as to why people being deleted requires the widest possible publicity,' Justice Bagchi said. Lawyers appearing for the petitioners highlighted to the Court that the EC had replaced digital voter lists with scanned versions that can be searched. The bench orally agreed with the petitioners that the data must be searchable. However, Dwivedi expressed difficulty. citing apprehensions that political parties might aggregate the data and whether the publication could be a violation of the right to privacy. 'We don't want citizens' rights to be dependent on political party workers,' Justice Kant said.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Group of ministers on GST to meet next week
NEW DELHI: Amid discussions for reduction of GST for many products, a group of ministers from states, headed by Bihar deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary, will meet next week. Several members of GoM, especially those from the Opposition, had suggested maintaining status quo on slabs and rates, citing possible adverse impact on revenue, but govt has undertaken a significant amount of work. Another panel of state ministers is also tasked with issue of lower or zero GST on health and term life covers, where the resistance is lower and is likely to be finalised shortly. Over next few weeks, govt and states are expected to work together for a revamp of the eight-year-old tax regime, with reworking of cess, which can help cover some of the possible dent to state revenues. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays , public holidays , current gold rate and silver price .
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Publish online searchable list of 65 lakh omitted voters, SC tells ECI
The Supreme Court has instructed the Election Commission of India to release the list of approximately 65 lakh names that were removed from Bihar's electoral draft roll after a special revision. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish the list of about 65 lakh names omitted from the electoral draft roll published on August 1 after a special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in poll-bound the commission to upload the list online, a bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also directed ECI to supply booth-wise searchable lists of the omitted voters with reasons. The commission has been directed to display the same on notice boards of panchayat bhavans/block development poll body has been directed to publish the searchable list in district electoral officers' websites by 5 pm on August 19. The case will come up for resumed hearing on August provide easy manual access to electors, the bench ordered that physical lists with reasons for omission shall also be displayed on the notice boards of booth-level officers and block development/panchayat Bihar chief electoral officer shall get soft copies of the list with reasons to be displayed on his website, and wide publicity shall be given through regional and English newspapers, radio (including All India radio), TV (including Doordarshan) and authorised social media platforms of Election Commission of India, the bench court also directed that the public notice about the display will specifically mention that objections can be raised by aggrieved individuals along with their Aadhaar copy, which shall be considered as a proof of identity and might be mentioned here that ECI, so far, has resisted accepting Aadhaar, contending that while it may be a proof of identity, it is not a valid proof of the resumed hearing on Thursday, the bench told the counsel for ECI that voters have a "fundamental right" to know why their names have been deleted from the draft roll. The same requires "widest publicity", justice Bagchi orally added "it is a fact there is a departure from your (ECI) SOP" owing to the exception of a "special circumstance". But, the judge added "why put data on the click of an inquiry". Put the entire data on the website".Weighing in, justice Kant verbally observed "we don't want citizen rights to be dependent on political parties". He added "why should a local villager be at the mercy of a BLO (booth-level officer)? These are practical impediments".Justice Kant further remarked that voters should not be made to run behind political parties to enquire about the status of their inclusion/exclusion from the roll. Justice Kant further said that the procedure adopted by the commission has to be "fair" since it has the "consequence of disenfranchising a voter".The counsel for ECI argued that the commission has recently been facing sharp "political hostility". He added there is "hardly any matter on which there is congruence" with the Opposition. He added that there had been repeated challenges to EVM. Referring to the Opposition, the ECI counsel said "if you win in one state, EVM is good. And when you lose in another, EVM is bad. Today we are at the same crossroads. Democracy is such that political parties will have necessities to raise certain issues".
