Bihar voter roll revision: Will intervene if there is ‘mass exclusion’ during exercise, says SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday warned that it would intervene in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar if there is any “mass exclusion” during the exercise, Live Law reported.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi also listed the petitions challenging the special revision exercise for hearing on August 12 and August 13, nearly two weeks after the draft electoral roll is scheduled to be published on August 1.
Observing that the Election Commission, being a constitutional authority, will be deemed to act in accordance with the law, Kant assured the petitioners that the court would hear their concerns.
“The moment they [the Election Commission] deviate from the [special intensive revision] notification…we will interfere,” Bar and Bench quoted Kant as saying.
On July 27, the Election Commission said that more than 7.2 crore out of the state’s 7.8 crore electors had submitted enumeration forms by the July 25 deadline, indicating “overwhelming participation”. This would mean that the remaining 65 lakh names may not make it to the draft rolls to be published on August 1.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, also told the court that the petitioners would have “no problem” if the Election Commission were to mention these 65 lakh names in the draft list, Live Law reported.
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