New Delhi: The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of Assembly elections has generated a lot of heat and controversy, with the Opposition being up in arms against the Centre and Election Commission of India (ECI).
On Monday, the Supreme Court questioned ECI over its reluctance to accept Aadhaar and Voter ID — Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) — as valid documents in the ongoing process, pointing out that any document can be forged.
Expressing concern over the exclusionary approach of the poll panel, a bench led by Justice Suryakant stressed that both documents be included in the verification process.
On July 10, the top court had allowed the revision exercise to proceed but, at the same time, asked the Election Commission to include Aadhaar, EPIC and ration card as valid documents for voter registration in Bihar’s SIR process. Justice Suryakant said it was necessary “in the interest of justice.”
On Monday, ECI argued that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship and raised concerns about fake ration cards, adding that large-scale forgery made it difficult to rely on them. The poll panel, however, conceded that Aadhaar could be submitted as proof of identity and that its number is asked for in the registration form.
The Supreme Court responded by observing that any document can be forged.
“If tomorrow, even the other ten documents you’ve accepted are found forged, where is the mechanism to prevent that? Why allow mass exclusions and not mass inclusions?” the top court asked.
The Supreme Court also asked for a timeline for the process if someone is excluded from the list.
Several petitioners challenged the exclusion of documents like Aadhaar and alleged large-scale removals from the Bihar electoral rolls.
Urging the court to halt finalisation of the draft list, the petitioners said citizens would be forced to contest exclusions individually.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who appeared for the petitioners, sought an interim stay on the publication of draft rolls, scheduled for August 1.
