SC asks Bihar authorities to provide free legal aid to 3.7 lakh voters left out of SIR list

The Supreme Court expressed concern over 'false details', and said "we wonder that such person even exists".

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered all the Bihar legal services authorities to provide free legal aid counsel to voters who were left out of the draft electoral rolls following the Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) in the state.

The Supreme Court expressed concern over 'false details', and said "we wonder that such person even exists".(ANI)

The top court's order comes a day after the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked the poll body to furnish details of 3.7 lakh voters whose names were deleted after the SIR exercise in Bihar.

The Supreme Court requested the Bihar state legal services authority to send the necessary communication to all the secretaries in local authorities to provide free legal aid counsel and para-legal volunteers to assist the excluded people to file their appeals.

"Since time to file appeals is running short, we deem it appropriate as an interim measure to request the Executive Chairman, Bihar SLA, to send communication, preferably today itself, to all secretaries of DLSAs to provide services of paralegal volunteers, free legal aid counsels to assist excluded persons to file statutory appeals. Secretaries to immediately re-notify mobile numbers and the full description of paralegal volunteers in each village, who in turn will contact the Booth Level Officers. They will collect information with respect to persons who have been excluded from the final list. Para Legal Volunteers would reach out to persons, informing them of their right to appeal. They will offer services to draft appeals and provide free legal aid counsel," LiveLaw quoted the top court bench as saying.

However, the apex court clarified that the order's benefit will also apply to those persons whose names were not in the draft list.

During the hearing, the Election Commission pointed out to the top court the fake details filed by a petitioner, who gave false details of a person claiming that his name was excluded from the final electoral list after the SIR exercise.

The top court bench expressed concern over the "false details", saying, "we wonder that such person even exists."

The 243-seat Bihar Assembly is set to vote in two phases, in November 6 and 11, and the Election Commission will announce the result on November 14.