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Hans India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Bihar SIR row: Electoral rolls can't remain static, bound for revision
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said electoral rolls cannot "remain static" and were bound to be revised as it disagreed with the submission that special intensive revision (SIR) of voter list in poll-bound Bihar had no basis in law and ought to be quashed. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was informed by NGO Association of Democratic Reforms that the exercise should not be allowed to be carried out pan-India. Aside from the NGO, leaders of opposition parties including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress have challenged the electoral roll revision drive of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the NGO, said the ECI notification on SIR ought to be set aside for want of legal basis and never being contemplated in law. He, therefore, contended it couldn't be allowed to go on. The ECI can never conduct such an exercise since inception and it is being done for the first time in history and if allowed to happen only God knows where it will end, he added. "By that logic special intensive revision can never be done." "One-time exercise which is done is only for the original electoral roll. To our mind, the electoral roll can never be static," the bench noted. "There is bound to be revision," the top court said, "otherwise, how will the poll panel delete the names of those who are dead, migrated or shifted to other constituencies?" The bench went on to tell Sankaranarayanan that the ECI had residual power to conduct such an exercise as it deemed fit. It referred to Section 21(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act (RP Act), which says "the Election Commission may at any time, for reasons to be recorded, direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit." Justice Bagchi further asked Sankaranarayanan, "When the primary legislation says 'in such manner as deemed fit' but the subordinate legislation does not... will it not give a residual discretion to ECI to dovetail the procedure not completely in ignorance of rules but some more additives than what the rules prescribe to deal with the peculiar requirement of a special revision?" Sankaranarayanan submitted that the provision only allowed revision of the electoral roll for "any constituency" or "for part of a constituency" and the ECI couldn't wipeout the rolls of an entire state for fresh inclusion. "Actually, it is a battle between a constitutional right and a constitutional power," Justice Bagchi said. The residuary power of the ECI flows from Article 324 of the Constitution and the RP Act mentions both summary revision and special revision and the ECI in the instant case has only added the word "intensive", that all, the judge noted. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, also appearing for the NGO, alleged the ECI played "mischief" and removed the search feature from the draft roll and the list of 65 lakh people whose names were deleted for being dead, migrated or shifted to other constituencies. "This happened just a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi did a press conference pointing out over lakh people as fake voters," he added, arguing an ordinary person was denied the right to search their name on the draft roll whether dead or alive or migrated to another place. Justice Kant said he was unaware of any such press conference but when it comes to the Registration of Electors Rule of 1960, Section 10 mandates the election commission to publish a copy of the draft roll at the office in the constituency. "They have to publish the draft roll at the office in the constituency. That's a minimum threshold under the law. However, we would have liked it if it was published on the website for wider publicity," Justice Bagchi said. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, said the petitioners claimed the rural population of Bihar was not tech savvy and now they were talking about the inability of the same people in searching online. During the hearing, the bench also told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for petitioners, that the 11 documents required to be submitted by an elector for Bihar's SIR as opposed to seven documents in summary revision conducted previously showed the exercise was "voter friendly". It said despite petitioners' arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar was exclusionary, it appeared the large number of documents was "actually inclusionary". "The number of documents in summary revision conducted earlier in the state was seven and in SIR it is 11, which shows it is voter friendly. We understand your arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar is exclusionary, but a high number of documents is actually inclusionary," the bench said.
NDTV
4 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
"Electoral Rolls Can't Remain Static": Top Court On Bihar SIR Row
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said electoral rolls cannot "remain static" and were bound to be revised as it disagreed with the submission that special intensive revision (SIR) of voter list in poll-bound Bihar had no basis in law and ought to be quashed. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was informed by NGO Association of Democratic Reforms that the exercise should not be allowed to be carried out pan-India. Aside from the NGO, leaders of opposition parties including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress have challenged the electoral roll revision drive of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the NGO, said the ECI notification on SIR ought to be set aside for want of legal basis and never being contemplated in law. He, therefore, contended it couldn't be allowed to go on. The ECI can never conduct such an exercise since inception and it is being done for the first time in history and if allowed to happen only God knows where it will end, he added. "By that logic special intensive revision can never be done. One-time exercise which is done is only for the original electoral roll. To our mind, the electoral roll can never be static," the bench noted. "There is bound to be revision," the top court said, "otherwise, how will the poll panel delete the names of those who are dead, migrated or shifted to other constituencies?" The bench went on to tell Sankaranarayanan that the ECI had residual power to conduct such an exercise as it deemed fit. It referred to Section 21(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act (RP Act), which says "the Election Commission may at any time, for reasons to be recorded, direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit." Justice Bagchi further asked Sankaranarayanan, "When the primary legislation says 'in such manner as deemed fit' but the subordinate legislation does not... will it not give a residual discretion to ECI to dovetail the procedure not completely in ignorance of rules but some more additives than what the rules prescribe to deal with the peculiar requirement of a special revision?" Sankaranarayanan submitted that the provision only allowed revision of the electoral roll for "any constituency" or "for part of a constituency" and the ECI couldn't wipeout the rolls of an entire state for fresh inclusion. "Actually, it is a battle between a constitutional right and a constitutional power," Justice Bagchi said. The residuary power of the ECI flows from Article 324 of the Constitution and the RP Act mentions both summary revision and special revision and the ECI in the instant case has only added the word "intensive", that all, the judge noted. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, also appearing for the NGO, alleged the ECI played "mischief" and removed the search feature from the draft roll and the list of 65 lakh people whose names were deleted for being dead, migrated or shifted to other constituencies. "This happened just a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi did a press conference pointing out over lakh people as fake voters," he added, arguing an ordinary person was denied the right to search their name on the draft roll whether dead or alive or migrated to another place. Justice Kant said he was unaware of any such press conference but when it comes to the Registration of Electors Rule of 1960, Section 10 mandates the election commission to publish a copy of the draft roll at the office in the constituency. "They have to publish the draft roll at the office in the constituency. That's a minimum threshold under the law. However, we would have liked it if it was published on the website for wider publicity," Justice Bagchi said. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, said the petitioners claimed the rural population of Bihar was not tech savvy and now they were talking about the inability of the same people in searching online. During the hearing, the bench also told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for petitioners, that the 11 documents required to be submitted by an elector for Bihar's SIR as opposed to seven documents in summary revision conducted previously showed the exercise was "voter friendly". It said despite petitioners' arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar was exclusionary, it appeared the large number of documents was "actually inclusionary". "The number of documents in summary revision conducted earlier in the state was seven and in SIR it is 11, which shows it is voter friendly. We understand your arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar is exclusionary but a high number of documents is actually inclusionary," the bench said. The hearing will continue on Thursday. On August 12, the top court said inclusion and exclusion of citizens or non-citizens from the electoral rolls was within the remit of the Election Commission and backed its stand to not accept Aadhaar and voter cards as conclusive proof of citizenship in the SIR of voters' list in Bihar.
NDTV
06-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Poll Watchdog Challenges Election Body's Bihar Roll Revision, Moves Court
New Delhi: The Association of Democratic Reforms has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Election Commission's direction for a Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls in Bihar. The EC on June 24 issued instructions to carry out an SIR in Bihar, apparently to weed out ineligible names and ensure only eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll. Bihar goes to the polls later this year. The NGO has sought the setting aside of the order and communication, arguing that it violates Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326 of the Constitution, as well as provisions of the Representation of People's Act, 1950, and Rule 21A of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who filed the plea, said the EC order "can arbitrarily and without due process" disenfranchise lakhs of voters and disrupt free and fair elections. "That the documentation requirements of the directive, lack of due process as well as the unreasonably short timeline for the said Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Roll in Bihar further make this exercise bound to result in removal of names of lakhs of genuine voters from electoral rolls leading to their disenfranchisement," Prashant Bhushan said. The last such revision in Bihar was conducted in 2003. According to the EC, the exercise was necessitated by rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants. It said that with the exercise, it wants to ensure the integrity and preparation of error-free electoral rolls. The SIR is being conducted by the booth officers, who are conducting a house-to-house survey for verification. The EC said it will scrupulously adhere to the constitutional and legal provisions as laid down in Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, in carrying out the revision. PTI PKS VN VN (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Hindustan Times
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Plea in Supreme Court challenges ECI revision of electoral roll in Bihar
The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has approached the Supreme Court questioning the manner and timing of the Election Commission's decision to undertake a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar amid a political storm over the issue. The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) filed the petition in the Supreme Court through Advocate Prashant Bhushan In its public interest litigation (PIL), ADR said SIR needs to be set aside, as insisting on people to prove their citizenship and that of their parents within short notice and without relying upon easily available identity documents such as Aadhaar card will potentially disenfranchise nearly 3 crore voters. The petition filed through Advocate Prashant Bhushan on Friday said, 'The order dated June 24 issued by ECI has shifted the onus of being on the voters' list from the state to citizens. It has excluded identification documents such as Aadhaar or ration cards which further make marginalised communities and the poor more vulnerable to exclusion from voting.' Terming that the timing and manner adopted by ECI was suspect, the petition alleged that SIT violates fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21, besides other provisions of the Constitution. It said, 'The SIR order if not set aside, can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country, which are part of basic structure of the Constitution.' While ECI has begun the exercise, Opposition parties have criticised the move raising similar apprehensions as raised in the petition. The declaration as required under the SIR process is violative of Article 326, the petition said, as it requires a voter to provide documents to prove his/her citizenship and also citizenships of his/her mother or father, failing which his/her name would not be added to the draft electoral roll and can be deleted from the same. Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RPA) allows ECI to direct a special revision of electoral rolls 'for reasons to be recorded.' While deletion of names from electoral rolls can be on grounds of death, nonresidence, or disqualification mentioned under Section 16 of RPA, 'While SIR of Bihar or any other state of country is a positive step, the manner in which ECI has directed the conduct of SIR in a poll bound state like Bihar, has raised questions from all stakeholders, particularly the voters,' ADR stated. Coupled with this, 'ECI has issued unreasonable and impractical timeline to conduct SIR in Bihar with close proximity to state elections which are due in November 2025,' that could disenfranchise lakhs of voters in the state who do not possess any of the 11 documents required under the SIR order and whose names do not figure in the 2003 electoral roll, it added. A Special Summary Revision (SSR) was carried out between October 29, 2024 and January 6, 2025 to address issues of migration and ineligible voters due to death or other reasons. Pointing to this fact, the petition said, 'There is no reason for such a drastic exercise in a poll bound state in such a short period of time, violating the right to vote of lakhs of voters.' The problem is aggravated due to Bihar being a state with high poverty and migration rates where persons, mostly belonging to the marginalised communities, may lack access to documents such as birth certificates or parental records. 'As per estimates, over 3 crore voters and more particularly from marginalized communities (such as SC, STs and migrant workers) could be excluded from voting due to the stringent requirements as mentioned in the SIR order. The current reports from Bihar, where SIR is already underway, show that lakhs of voters from villages and marginalized communities do not possess the documents sought from them,' the petition added. ECI on Friday announced that over 68.6 million enumeration forms have been distributed in Bihar, covering over 87% of the 79 million enrolled electors as of June 24, under the SIR exercise. BLOs completed visits to nearly 15 million households by July 4. 'The first visit of BLOs to nearly 1.5 crore been completed today and over 87% Enumeration Forms (i.e. 6,86,17,932) out of 7,89,69,844 (nearly 7.90 crore) electors in Bihar who are enrolled as on June 24, 2025, have been distributed during SIR exercise being conducted in the state,' ECI said in a press release. Under the SIR exercise, the first in the state since 2003, voters have to give documents to prove their date and place of birth along with the forms being distributed in all districts – if their name doesn't figure in the 2003 rolls. There are a total of 11 documents an elector can provide. The poll watchdog has said that the exercise will eventually be carried out nationwide
