NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to Election Commission (EC) to publish the Bihar draft voter list on August 1 after completing its special intensive revision (SIR).
The apex court said, "We are overseeing the process. The Jan 2025 voter list forms the base. If there is mass exclusion (from it), we will immediately step in".
After senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Gopal Sankaranarayanan and counsel Prashant Bhushan alleged exclusion of nearly 60 lakh voters on the grounds that they are either dead or have migrated from the state and requested the court to scrutinise the process, Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said EC's notification provides for a procedure, and SC would swing into action if EC deviated from that.
SC: Voter draft list to reveal deleted names & grounds
For EC, senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Maninder Singh said each political party has been given the list of voters and that the EC has provided a 30-day timeframe after publication of the draft voter list prepared after SIR to enable excluded voters to add their names to the list or correct their antecedents.
Dwivedi said instead of objecting to SIR, political parties should help voters to get their names verified and included in the voter list.
"Political parties should act like an NGO to facilitate people and support the exercise," the bench said, adding, "Let the draft voter list after SIR be published. Election Commission has given a timeline for those not figuring in it to take steps for inclusion of their names or corrections if any."
When Sibal and others protested the procedure and claimed it was an exercise to exclude certain categories of people, the bench further said, "It is not a question of document. Show 15 people who are alive, yet their names have been deleted on the ground that they have passed away. The draft list will give an opportunity to voters and political parties to understand who are deleted on grounds of migration or death." The bench asked the EC to produce data about such deletions. The Supreme Court posted the final hearing for Aug 12-13.
The apex court said, "We are overseeing the process. The Jan 2025 voter list forms the base. If there is mass exclusion (from it), we will immediately step in".
After senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Gopal Sankaranarayanan and counsel Prashant Bhushan alleged exclusion of nearly 60 lakh voters on the grounds that they are either dead or have migrated from the state and requested the court to scrutinise the process, Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said EC's notification provides for a procedure, and SC would swing into action if EC deviated from that.
SC: Voter draft list to reveal deleted names & grounds
For EC, senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Maninder Singh said each political party has been given the list of voters and that the EC has provided a 30-day timeframe after publication of the draft voter list prepared after SIR to enable excluded voters to add their names to the list or correct their antecedents.
Dwivedi said instead of objecting to SIR, political parties should help voters to get their names verified and included in the voter list.
"Political parties should act like an NGO to facilitate people and support the exercise," the bench said, adding, "Let the draft voter list after SIR be published. Election Commission has given a timeline for those not figuring in it to take steps for inclusion of their names or corrections if any."
When Sibal and others protested the procedure and claimed it was an exercise to exclude certain categories of people, the bench further said, "It is not a question of document. Show 15 people who are alive, yet their names have been deleted on the ground that they have passed away. The draft list will give an opportunity to voters and political parties to understand who are deleted on grounds of migration or death." The bench asked the EC to produce data about such deletions. The Supreme Court posted the final hearing for Aug 12-13.
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