Sir Appears to be Trust Deficit Issue: SC

Inclusion, exclusion of citizens from electoral rolls within EC remit, says SC

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday called the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) row "largely a trust deficit issue" as the Election Commission of India (ECI) claimed that roughly 6.5 crore people out of the total 7.9 crore voting population did not have to file any documents for themselves or their parents, whose names featured in the 2003 electoral roll.

The top court also agreed with the EC's decision not to accept Aadhaar and voter ID cards as conclusive proof of citizenship in the ongoing exercise, stating that such documents must be supported by other evidence. It said the inclusion or exclusion of citizens and non-citizens from the electoral rolls was within the remit of the Election Commission.

The apex court is hearing a batch of petitions against the EC's electoral roll revision in poll-bound Bihar.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi remarked during the hearing that it "largely appears to be a case of trust deficit, nothing else," as it questioned the petitioners challenging the EC's June 24 decision to conduct the SIR on the grounds that it would disenfranchise one crore voters.

"If out of 7.9 crore voters, 7.24 crore voters responded to the SIR, it demolishes the theory of one crore voters missing or disenfranchised," the bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for petitioner and RJD leader Manoj Jha, also a Rajya Sabha MP.

Sibal argued that despite residents possessing Aadhaar, ration, and EPIC cards, officials refused to accept these documents.

"Is it your argument that people who have no documents but are in Bihar should be considered voters of the state? That cannot be allowed. They must show or submit some documents," the bench responded.