Bihar voters excluded from draft roll can submit Aadhaar: SC
What's the story
The Supreme Court has allowed voters excluded from the draft electoral roll in Bihar to submit their applications for inclusion online. The court ruled that physical submission of forms is not required, and either an Aadhaar card or one of the 11 documents specified by the Election Commission of India (ECI) can be submitted with these applications.
Party involvement
Political parties to direct BLAs to help voters submit forms
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also directed 12 recognized political parties in Bihar to direct their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to help voters submit forms. The court expressed surprise at the low number of objections filed by BLAs, with only two objections received so far despite there being around 1.6 lakh BLAs.
Compliance issues
ECI lists of excluded voters displayed at polling booths
Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi told the court that the ECI has published lists of excluded voters on websites and polling booths. However, he claimed no political party had filed objections against these exclusions. Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and Dr AM Singhvi, representing petitioners, argued that despite the court's order, the booth-level officers were not accepting Aadhaar as a standalone document.
Process concerns
Petitions challenging ECI's directive
The court was hearing petitions challenging the ECI's June 24 directive for an SIR ahead of the Bihar assembly elections. The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), one of the petitioners, argued that this could disenfranchise citizens and disrupt democracy. However, the ECI defended its decision, citing constitutional powers under Article 324 and Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Deadline extension
No name removed without notice, ECI assured
On August 6, the court was informed that 65 lakh names were dropped from the draft Bihar electoral roll published on August 1. The ECI assured that no name would be removed without notice and an opportunity to be heard. On August 14, the court directed the ECI to upload online details of voters proposed for deletion during SIR in Bihar.