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Supreme Court grills EC over voters list revision, urges poll panel to allow Aadhaar card
While questioning the timing of the move, the Supreme Court did not pause the voters list revision exercise, citing practical and legal grounds.
The Supreme Court on Thursday raised pointed questions over the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, urging the poll body to consider including Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, and ration cards as valid documents for voter enumeration under the ongoing drive.
The court has agreed to examine a batch of petitions challenging the timing and manner of the SIR, with the next hearing scheduled for July 28. The Election Commission has been granted time until July 21 to file its response. No interim order has been passed yet.
A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi questioned the poll panel’s decision to initiate the revision just months before the elections, noting that the move “goes to the root of democracy and the power to vote.”
"If you are to check citizenship under SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, then you should have acted early; it is a bit late,” said Justice Dhulia, pointing to the possible implications of revising voter rolls so close to the elections.
The Court, however, dismissed the contention of the petitioners - which include opposition leaders and civil society groups - that the ECI lacked the authority to conduct such a revision. The bench noted that revising the electoral roll is a constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission and emphasized that the last such exercise in Bihar was conducted in 2003.
During the hearing, the ECI defended the SIR, stating that it is essential to maintain the integrity of the electoral rolls by adding eligible voters and removing ineligible ones. The Commission reiterated that Aadhaar is not a valid proof of citizenship, asserting that only Indian citizens are entitled to vote as per Article 326 of the Constitution.
Senior counsel Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, questioned, “If the Election Commission doesn't have the power to revise the electoral roll, then who does?”
He further assured the Court that no name would be deleted from the voter list without the individual being given an opportunity to be heard.
The bench also questioned the ECI’s exclusion of Aadhaar from the SIR process, noting that matters of citizenship are under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs, not the Election Commission.
Over 10 petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the ECI’s decision, including one from the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms. High-profile petitioners include RJD MP Manoj Jha, TMC’s Mahua Moitra, Congress’ K C Venugopal, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, CPI’s D Raja, SP’s Harinder Singh Malik, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant, JMM’s Sarfraz Ahmed, and CPI (ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya.
