The Supreme Court will hear on July 10 regarding the removal of lakhs of names from the voter list in Bihar. Several petitioners, including the RJD, have raised questions about the Election Commission's process.
Bihar Voter List: Several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the potential removal of lakhs of voters' names during the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and others have questioned this process. The court will hear the matter on July 10.
What is the matter?
Major changes are being made to the voter list in Bihar under the special intensive revision campaign being conducted by the Election Commission. Four separate petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court regarding this process. The petitioners include RJD leader Manoj Jha, social activist Yogendra Yadav, and Mahua Moitra. They claim that this process is unequal, complex, and against the poor and marginalized sections of society.
What the petitioners are saying
Senior lawyers argue that this process could lead to the removal of lakhs of voters' names from the list, especially women and people from poor sections. They claim that if a citizen does not fill out the form with the required documents, their name will be removed, even if they have been voting for two decades.
Kapil Sibal said in court, "It's not as easy as it seems." Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that "there are 8 crore voters, of whom 4 crore need to be re-verified. This is practically impossible."
Aadhaar and Voter Cards are also not being accepted
Lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan said that in many places, documents like Aadhaar cards and Voter ID cards are also not being accepted. This is creating confusion. Singhvi also said that the deadline of July 25 for submitting documents is so strict that lakhs of people may face problems.
Initial comments by the court
During the hearing, Justice Dhulia of the Supreme Court said that since the notification for the Bihar Assembly or Lok Sabha elections has not been issued yet, it is not appropriate to emphasize the deadline for submitting documents. However, the court agreed to hear the petitions and scheduled a detailed hearing for July 10.
Questions raised on the Election Commission
Serious questions have been raised about the Election Commission's process. The petitioners claim that this process is against transparency and names are being removed without providing sufficient information to the citizens. Especially in rural areas and the uneducated section, they do not have complete information about it.
