SC Orders Election Commission to Accept Aadhaar for Voter Inclusion, Involves All Political Parties

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Supreme Court has given a big decision in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) case in Bihar and has made all the 12 political parties of the state parties. The court has also asked the political parties to help the people who were excluded from the draft voter list during SIR.

A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi is hearing the case. The bench expressed surprise that there are more than 1.68 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) of political parties in Bihar, but according to the Election Commission, only two objections have been filed. During the hearing in the Supreme Court, the Election Commission had asked the political parties to come forward and cooperate in the SIR process. After this, the Supreme Court ordered the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar to issue notice to the presidents of all the political parties in the state.

The court directed the political parties to issue instructions to their BLAs to help voters submit the required form along with the 11 documents listed by the Election Commission or Aadhaar card for inclusion in the voter list. Earlier, the Election Commission filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that its instructions have been followed and the booth-wise list of about 65 lakh people who are not included in the draft voter list has been uploaded on the website. The Election Commission also told the court that the draft voter list has also been released as per the order. Election Commission lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi told the court that the reasons for not including the name in the draft list have also been disclosed and put on the website at the district level.

In the last hearing, the court had asked the Election Commission to release the list of 65 lakh people whose names have not been included in the draft voter list. The Commission also had to mention in the list the reason for not including their names in the draft list. The Supreme Court was hearing petitions challenging the Election Commission's June 24 directive ordering SIR of voter lists before the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.