Supreme Court Steps Into Voter Exclusion In Bihar? Court Allows Voters To Apply Online For Inclusion In SIR

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed excluded voters to apply for inclusion online in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The court said that they can apply on the basis of Aadhaar or any of the 11 prescribed documents.

Hearing a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel’s move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, the apex court also held that physical submission of forms is not mandatory.

Opposition Welcomes Supreme Court’s Ruling

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. In a post on X, he said, “Democracy has survived a brutal assault from the Election Commission of India (ECI). On August 14th, the Supreme Court had intervened to set aside the ECI’s decision to withhold the list of deleted voters.”

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that a person, at their own or with the assistance of booth-level agents (BLAs) of a political party, is entitled to apply online and does not need to apply in a physical form.

The bench also instructed the 12 recognised political parties in Bihar to direct their booth-level agents to assist voters in their respective booths with the submission of forms.

Court Expresses Surprise Over Filing Only Two Objections By 1.6 lakh BLAs

Expressing surprise, the bench noted that despite there being around 1.6 lakh BLAs in Bihar, only two objections have been submitted by them.

The court further observed submissions from some parties alleging that officials were not acknowledging objections raised by BLAs.

The bench said all 12 political parties in Bihar shall issue specific directions to party workers to assist people in filing and submission of requisite forms with any 11 documents in Form 6 or Aadhaar Card to get themselves included in the voters’ list.

It said BLAs of all political parties are directed to make an endeavour that approximately 65 lakh persons not included in the draft rolls are facilitated, except those who are dead or have voluntarily migrated, in submitting their objections by the cutoff date of September 1.

Election Commission Submitted List Of 65 Lakh Electors Deleted From SIR

The Election Commission has also filed an affidavit stating that the list of names and details of 65 lakh electors in Bihar who were not included in the draft roll published on August 1 has been posted on the websites of all 38 District Electoral Officers in the state.

The list also contained the reasons for their non-inclusion, including death, shifting of ordinary residence or duplicate entries, ECI told the apex court.

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