NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission of India to provide it with details of 3.66 lakh excluded voters from the final electoral poll prepared under the Bihar special intensive revision (SIR).
During the hearing, the poll body told the apex court that most of the names added to the final electoral roll in SIR are of new voters and a few old voters, stressing that "no complaint or appeal filed till now by any excluded voters."
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing petitions challenging the Bihar SIR . The bench asked EC to submit information it gets on excluded voters by October 9. The further hearing will be conducted on the same day.
The top court said that, as the final list has been published so the required data can be furnished through a comparative analysis.
Also read: Bihar polls: Why sops for women top NDA’s freebie shower
Earlier, on September 30, the EC published the final voters' list after the special intensive revision and announced the Bihar assembly election schedule on October 6.
During the hearing, Justice Bagchi told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for the poll panel, that court orders have resulted in more transparency.
"You'd agree with us that the degree of transparency and access has improved in the electoral process. It appears from the data that there was a 65 lakh deletion in the draft list which you published, and we said whoever is dead or moved is alright, but if you are deleting someone, please follow Rule 21 and the SOP," the bench said.
"We also said that whoever is deleted, please put up their data in your electoral offices. Now the final list appears to be an appreciation of numbers and there is confusion in the general democratic process -- what is the identity of the add-ons, are they of deleted names or new names," Justice Bagchi said.
"No complaint or appeal filed till now by any excluded voters," Dwivedi replied.
Bihar’s voter data swing: 65 lakh deletions, 47 lakh net drop
According to the Election Commission, the final electoral list released on September 30 shows a net decrease of 47 lakh voters, bringing Bihar’s total electors down to 7.42 crore, from 7.89 crore before the SIR exercise.
However, the final figure has increased by 17.87 lakh from the draft list published on August 1, which had removed 65 lakh names on various grounds, including death, migration, or duplication.
In the final tally, 21.53 lakh new voters were added, and 3.66 lakh names removed, resulting in a net gain of 17.87 lakh voters since the draft roll.
Bihar heads to polls next month
The development comes just days after the Election Commission announced the Bihar Assembly election schedule on October 6.
Polling will be held in two phases — November 6 (for 121 seats) and November 11 (for 122 seats), while vote counting will take place on November 14.
During the hearing, the poll body told the apex court that most of the names added to the final electoral roll in SIR are of new voters and a few old voters, stressing that "no complaint or appeal filed till now by any excluded voters."
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing petitions challenging the Bihar SIR . The bench asked EC to submit information it gets on excluded voters by October 9. The further hearing will be conducted on the same day.
The top court said that, as the final list has been published so the required data can be furnished through a comparative analysis.
Also read: Bihar polls: Why sops for women top NDA’s freebie shower
Earlier, on September 30, the EC published the final voters' list after the special intensive revision and announced the Bihar assembly election schedule on October 6.
During the hearing, Justice Bagchi told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for the poll panel, that court orders have resulted in more transparency.
"You'd agree with us that the degree of transparency and access has improved in the electoral process. It appears from the data that there was a 65 lakh deletion in the draft list which you published, and we said whoever is dead or moved is alright, but if you are deleting someone, please follow Rule 21 and the SOP," the bench said.
"We also said that whoever is deleted, please put up their data in your electoral offices. Now the final list appears to be an appreciation of numbers and there is confusion in the general democratic process -- what is the identity of the add-ons, are they of deleted names or new names," Justice Bagchi said.
"No complaint or appeal filed till now by any excluded voters," Dwivedi replied.
Bihar’s voter data swing: 65 lakh deletions, 47 lakh net drop
According to the Election Commission, the final electoral list released on September 30 shows a net decrease of 47 lakh voters, bringing Bihar’s total electors down to 7.42 crore, from 7.89 crore before the SIR exercise.
However, the final figure has increased by 17.87 lakh from the draft list published on August 1, which had removed 65 lakh names on various grounds, including death, migration, or duplication.
In the final tally, 21.53 lakh new voters were added, and 3.66 lakh names removed, resulting in a net gain of 17.87 lakh voters since the draft roll.
Bihar heads to polls next month
The development comes just days after the Election Commission announced the Bihar Assembly election schedule on October 6.
Polling will be held in two phases — November 6 (for 121 seats) and November 11 (for 122 seats), while vote counting will take place on November 14.
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