'Bihar's SIR voter-friendly, gives electors more options': Supreme Court
What's the story
The Supreme Court, while hearing petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list in Bihar, disagreed with the argument that the Election Commission's exercise is "anti-voter" and exclusionary. "We get your exclusionary argument from Aadhaar. But the point on the number of documents is, in fact, voter-friendly and not against it. Look at the number of documents by which you can prove citizenship," Justice Joymalya Bagchi told Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the petitioners.
Justice
11 documents required would be anti-voter
Justice Surya Kant, agreeing with Justice Bagchi, said, "If...all 11 documents are required, then it would be anti-voter. But if any one document is asked for, then..." Singhvi then drew comparison with an electoral roll revision in Jharkhand. "(1) Aadhaar is out - it is exclusionary. (2) Water electricity, gas connection - not there (3) Indian passport - coverage of less than 1-2% retained. (4) all other documents have between 0-2-3% coverage. I wonder in Bihar, how many will qualify?"
Court
'Let us not project Bihar this way'
Justice Kant then intervened and said, "Let us not project Bihar this way." "In terms of All India services, maximum representation is from Bihar...The maximum IAS, IPS, IFS (officers) are from there. This cannot happen if the younger population is not motivated," he said. Singhvi agreed that the state has produced gifted people "but this is limited to a section of people." "Bihar has rural, flood-prone areas. There are poverty-stricken areas. The issue is that most...will not have these documents."
Coverage concerns
Senior advocate Singhvi's argument on document coverage
Singhvi argued that while the number of documents is high, their coverage is low. In particular, he cited passport ownership in Bihar as an example, stating only 1-2% of people own passports. Interjecting, the bench noted that 36 lakh people in Bihar hold passports and emphasized that the list of required documents was prepared after consulting various government departments for maximum coverage.
EC support
Court backs Election Commission's decision on Aadhaar, voter cards
On August 12, the Supreme Court had backed the Election Commission's decision to not accept Aadhaar and voter cards as conclusive proof of citizenship. The court said inclusion or exclusion from electoral rolls is within the Election Commission's remit. The ongoing SIR process has sparked controversy in and outside Parliament, with the court observing that it was "largely a trust deficit issue."