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SC tells EC to correct typos, procedural errors in Bihar voter rolls; next hearing on SIR two days before polling
Supreme Court said it will take up the matter again on November 4, when key legal questions related to the revision exercise are likely to be argued
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over discrepancies and large-scale deletions in Bihar’s electoral roll ahead of next month’s assembly elections, adding that it expects the Election Commission of India (ECI) to correct any typographical or procedural errors in the final voter list.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said it will hear on November 4 the legal issues related to the Bihar SIR exercise.
The court said it will take up the matter again on November 4, when key legal questions related to the revision exercise are likely to be argued. The first round of voting in Bihar is on November 6.
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The controversy stems from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll, which resulted in a sharp decline of nearly 47 lakh voters. According to figures published by the poll body on September 30, the total number of electors declined from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore.
What happened during the hearing?
During the hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO 'Association of Democratic Reforms, said details of a voter claiming his name was not added in the final list, which was alleged by the EC as fake on the October 7 hearing in the matter, were true.
He argued that the voter’s information was genuine and called on the ECI to publicly disclose the number of deletions and the reasons behind them.
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The Election Commission countered that no voter has filed an appeal against deletions since the publication of the final roll on September 30.
But the Supreme Court had already noted on October 7 that there appeared to be “confusion” over the exclusion of 3.66 lakh names from the draft list to the final roll, and had sought detailed explanations.
The issue takes on greater significance as the electoral roll will be frozen on October 17 and 20 in different constituencies, just weeks before voting begins.
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The revisions also saw 21.53 lakh new voters added to the draft roll, but 65 lakh names removed at an earlier stage, resulting in a net drop that has raised eyebrows among political observers and civil society groups.
The first phase of polling in 121 seats is scheduled for November 6, followed by 122 seats on November 11. Counting will take place on November 14.
The final figure has, however, increased by 17.87 lakh from 7.24 crore electors named in the draft list issued on August 1, which had removed 65 lakh voters from the original list on various accounts, including deaths, migration and duplication of voters.
(with PTI inputs)
