Publication Of Final Voters’ List Won’t Matter To Us If There Is Illegality’: Supreme Court Postpones Hearing Until October 7 Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
The Supreme Court postponed the hearing of the petitions contesting the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Bihar electoral records till October 7 on Monday, September 15.
The bench, which consists of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, turned down the petitioners’ request for a hearing before October 1st, when the final voters list is published, citing the court’s upcoming weeklong closure for the Dussehra holiday on September 28.
The Court assured the petitioners that it would step in if there was any illegality, regardless of whether the final voter list was published or not. The Court stated that the release of the final voter list would not affect the decision of the case.
What impact will the list’s eventual disclosure have on us? Justice Kant remarked, “If we are convinced that there is some illegality, we can… This came in response to ADR’s Advocate Prashant Bhushan’s claims that the ECI was not conducting the SIR exercise in accordance with its own guidelines and manuals. Bhushan claimed that in spite of the legal need, the ECI was failing to upload the objections that were received.
Also Read:- Apprenticeship rules revised: Stipend hiked 81% to Rs 12,300
The court said that the publication of the final voter list will not affect the decision in the case. The court assured the petitioners that if there is any illegality, it will intervene even after the list is finalised. Justice Kant said, “What difference will it make to us (final publication of the list)? If we are satisfied that there is some illegality, we will…” The court made this remark in response to the argument presented by advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of ADR that the Election Commission is not following its own rules and regulations in the SIR process. Bhushan alleged that the Election Commission is not uploading the objections received despite the legal order.
Senior advocate Dr AM Singhvi and advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for RJD, urged the court to hear the matter first. Grover argued that the new Bihar assembly has to be constituted by November 22, which means the notification for the elections will be issued by mid-October.
Therefore, there is very little time for effective intervention, Grover said. However, the bench stuck to its stand that the matter will be heard on October 7. Justice Kant said this is the earliest available non-miscellaneous day after the courts reopen.
Also Read:- Big Win for Delhi Police: Terror Group Busted, Explosive Materials Recovered
The bench also considered an application filed by advocate Ashwani Upadhyay seeking modification of last week’s order allowing Aadhaar card to be used as the “twelfth document” as proof of identity in the SIR process. Upadhyay claimed that there are “lakhs of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Bihar”, and argued that allowing the use of Aadhaar card would be “disastrous”. He argued that one can obtain Aadhaar card by staying in India for only 182 days and it is neither proof of citizenship nor of residence. However, Justice Kant responded that any document can be forged. “Driving licence, Aadhaar, many documents can be forged…Aadhaar should be used only to the extent permitted by law,” Justice Kant said. However, the bench issued notice on Upadhyay’s application.
On July 10, the Court passed an order directing the Election Commission to consider Aadhaar cards, ration cards and voter identity cards (EPIC) as documents for inclusion in the voter list. On July 28, the Court refused to stop the Election Commission from publishing the draft voter list for Bihar on August 1. However, it orally asked the Election Commission to at least consider Aadhaar cards and voter ID cards. A day later, the Court was told that the draft voter list was likely to exclude 65 lakh people. In response, the Court orally said that it would intervene if there was large-scale exclusion.
On August 6 (after the draft list was published), ADR filed an application alleging, among other things, that the Election Commission had not made public the details of 65 lakh left-out voters. The Election Commission filed its counter-affidavit in response.
On August 12, the petitioners began arguments, arguing, among other things, that the Bihar SIR was illegal and the onus of proving citizenship could not be placed on voters/electors. On August 13, citing Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the bench asked both sides whether the Election Commission was not empowered to conduct a process like the Bihar SIR “in a proper manner”. On the issue of implementation of the West Bengal SIR, which was raised, the bench said it would be considered later.
Also Read:- Cervical Pain – The Silent Side Effect of Your Daily Routine
On August 14, the Court directed the Election Commission to publish the names of the 65 lakh voters excluded from the list and the reasons for their exclusion on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar as well as the websites of the District Electoral Officers. This information was to be displayed in an EPIC-searchable format.
On August 22, the Court directed the Election Commission to allow around 65 lakh excluded voters to submit applications for inclusion of names through online mode along with their Aadhaar cards.
On September 1, the Court considered applications seeking extension of the deadline for filing claims/objections on the draft list. In this regard, the Election Commission told the Court that claims/objections can be filed even after the deadline and all such claims/objections filed before the last date of nomination will be considered. Keeping this in mind, the Court did not extend the deadline. On the request for a direction to the Election Commission to also accept the Aadhaar cards of 7.24 crore (approximately) voters whose enumeration forms were submitted, the Court asked the petitioners to mark specific instances where the Election Commission has refused to accept the Aadhaar of any voter in the category of 7.24 crore.
On September 8, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to treat Aadhaar cards as the “12th document” that can be submitted as proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion in Bihar’s revised voter list. The court clarified that Aadhaar will not be proof of citizenship and that EC officials will be entitled to verify the authenticity and genuineness of Aadhaar cards submitted by voters.
