Allegations Arise in Bihar SIR Dispute: 12 Living Voters Declared Dead. Supreme Court Seeks Response from Election Commission. Election Commission Provides Information on Draft Roll and Correction Process.
Bihar Voter List: The Supreme Court heard a case on Tuesday regarding the voter list revision, or SIR (Summarized/Special Revision of Electoral Rolls), in Bihar. During the hearing, petitioner's lawyer Kapil Sibal informed the court that in a small area of Bihar, 12 living people have been wrongly declared dead. He alleged that the Booth Level Officer (BLO) did not fulfill their responsibility properly. The court questioned why these individuals did not approach the court themselves. Kapil Sibal explained that they are included in several petitions.
Election Commission Presents Draft Roll, Emphasizes Correction Process
The Election Commission clarified in this matter that the voter list that has been released is a draft roll. This means that it is not the final list, but rather an opportunity will be given to people to file objections for corrections. The commission stated that the correction process is ongoing and any errors will be rectified.
Kapil Sibal Raises Serious Questions
Lawyer Kapil Sibal informed the court that the rules were not followed in creating the voter list. He stated that according to Rules 10 and 12, Form 4 was required to be sent to every household, but this was not done. He also pointed out several deficiencies in the process for removing names from the voter list.
Kapil Sibal also stated that according to the Representation of the People Act, providing proof is necessary to remove someone's name, but the rules have been violated because incorrect names have been removed.
Supreme Court Makes it Clear: Responsibility Lies with the Election Commission
The Supreme Court stated that if someone's name has been wrongly removed from the voter list, it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to prove that the person is not a citizen. The court also asked whether the Election Commission had issued Form 4 legally through the BLO. To this, Kapil Sibal responded that the draft roll was issued without a proper survey process.
Allegations of Ignoring Constitutional Rules and Arbitrariness
Advocate Gopal Shankar Narayan, representing the petitioner, stated that approximately 6.5 million names have been removed in the draft roll, but the commission has not provided any list in this regard. Kapil Sibal said that the Election Commission and the BLO have ignored constitutional rules and acted arbitrarily. He said that Aadhaar cards should be accepted as proof of date of birth for adding new voter names, but the Election Commission is not recognizing it.
Election Commission Acknowledges Errors are Natural
Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the Election Commission, said that some errors may occur in the process of creating a large-scale voter list. This is why the draft roll has been issued so that people can file objections and corrections can be made. He said that the correction process and timeframe are predetermined.
