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SC seeks Centre, EC response on listing 26 Assam women in doubtful voters list
The Electoral Registration Officer said that the women were put in the D-voter category in 1997. However, the ERO said that there were no records stating why
The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Election Commission, Centre and Assam government on a petition filed by 26 Muslim women from Assam’s Barpeta constituency after they found their nameshad been part of the doubtful voter list for over two decades.
A bench comprising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat passed the order on Wednesday on a petition filed by one Tahmina Khatun and 25 others.
Advocate Jayshree Satpute, who appeared for the petitioners, informed the court that the women had approached the authorities in 2019 and filed a plea under the Right to Information Act to know why they were classified as D-voters or doubtful voters. The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in September 2019 responded by saying that the women were put in the D-voter category in 1997. However, the ERO said that there were no records stating why.
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Of the 26 petitioners, 24 belong to Bheragaon in Barpeta district, where Muslims are in the majority. After being classified as D-voters, the petitioners alleged that they and their families have faced social stigma. It is not known whether their family members’ names are also in the doubtful voter list.
The bench observed that the point raised in the petition required consideration and asked the EC and Centre to respond within four weeks.
The petition prayed for a direction to remove their names from the doubtful voter list as this would bring their citizenship under a cloud. Placing an individual in this list denies a person basic rights and legal rights, which includes right to ration and right to vote, apart from constitutional guarantees. The petitioners claimed that they were neither heard nor allowed an opportunity to explain by the authorities before being placed in the doubtful voter category.
The development is also significant since the election process for assembly polls in Assam has already begun.
