Supreme Court directs EC to publish list of 65 lakh deleted voters

The Supreme Court on Thursday (August 14) asked the Election Commission (EC) to publish the district-wise list of approximately 65 lakh voters whose names have been deleted from the draft electoral roll published by the poll panel following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi further stated that the reasons for deletion, like death, migration, and double-registration, should be specified by the EC. The top court also directed the poll panel to display the information on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar, adding that the documents should be searchable with EPIC numbers.

According to a Live Law report, the bench stated the EC should, in public notices that the excluded persons, at the time of submitting their claims for inclusion in the final list, can also furnish their Aadhaar cards.

'Ensure wide publicity'

The court directed the EC to widely publicise the fact that the information will be published on the related websites through newspapers, electronic and social media and asked the poll panel to execute the steps by next Tuesday. The bench posted the matter for next Friday.

Earlier on August 1, the reasons cited by the EC for non-inclusion of previously registered voters in the draft rolls included death (22.34 lakh), "permanently shifted/absent" (36.28 lakh) and "already enrolled (at more than one places)" (7.01 lakh).

Also Read: Supreme Court asks EC for 2003 Bihar electoral roll documents

EC’s actions facing political hostility

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, said it had enough reservoir of power to take certain decisions but lamented ECI functioning in an "atmosphere of sharp political hostility" where most of its decisions were contested.

He said the ECI was currently "caught between the struggle of political parties", which saw them call EVMs "bad" when they lost and call EVMs "good" when they won.

Dwivedi said a conservative estimate showed around 6.5 crore people were not required to submit any documents for SIR in Bihar as they or their parents were registered in the 2003 electoral roll.

Also Read: SC on Bihar SIR: Option of 11 documents shows it is ‘voter-friendly’

Documents considered in 2003 revision

Earlier during the hearing, the top court sought to know the documents that were considered during the 2003 intensive electoral roll revision in Bihar.

The bench said, "We would like ECI to state what documents were taken in the 2003 exercise".

The remarks came after advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for one of the parties, reportedly referred to the court reportedly saying, "if the date of January 1, 2003 (the date of earlier SIR) goes then everything goes".

"I must submit that nothing was there to show why this date is there… The impression sought to be conveyed is that it is the earlier date when the intensive exercise for revision of the electoral roll was held. It is stated that the EPIC (voter) card issued then is more reliable than issued during summary exercises conducted from time to time, is incorrect," Pasha said.

ECI conducts a summary revision of electoral rolls ahead of elections for inclusion and deletion of voters every year, whereas intensive revisions are conducted for a thorough revision of electoral rolls in a state after a period of time.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi has tea with 'dead' voters from Bihar, takes a dig at EC

Exclusion of EPIC cards questioned

Pasha asked if the process of enrolling under intensive and summary revisions was the same, then how could EPIC cards issued under summary exercises be discarded?

The lawyer, therefore, said the date of 2003 was invalid and not based on “intelligible differentia” (basis of distinguishing the two situations).

"No receipt of my enumeration form is being given or any documents acknowledging the receipt is given and therefore the booth level officers have an upper hand, and these lower level officers have too much discretion on whether the form has to be taken or not," he said.

Also Read: Minta Devi voter list row: Rijiju slams Congress for mocking Bihar woman

The backdrop

The top court on August 13 observed that electoral rolls cannot remain "static" and there is bound to be a revision. The top court said the expanded list of acceptable documents of identity from seven to 11 for Bihar's SIR of voters’ list was in fact "voter-friendly and not exclusionary." As the row over the SIR escalated, the bench said the EC possessed residual power to conduct such an exercise as it deemed fit.

The bench also disagreed with a submission by a petitioner that the SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar had no basis in law and ought to be quashed.

Leaders of opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress and the NGO Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) have challenged the electoral roll revision drive in Bihar.

(With agency inputs)