In a big blow to Bihar’s ‘voter chori’ campaign, the Supreme Court backed the voter survey in Bihar.
The apex court also observed that the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is ‘ voter friendly’ as documents required from electors in SIR are 11 compared to seven considered in summary revision of electoral roll.
An SC bench comprising of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Baghchi is hearing petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Petitioners told the apex court that SIR may have higher number of documents but they have minimum coverage in Bihar and hence exclusionary.
The draft electoral roll was released on August 1, with the final list set to be published on September 30, even as the Opposition claims the process could strip crores of eligible voters of their rights.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that the Election Commission of India is correct in saying that Aadhar can’t be accepted as conclusive proof of citizenship.
Hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar, the top court said, “See the Election Commission is correct in saying that Aadhar can’t be accepted as conclusive proof of citizenship; it has to be verified. See section 9 of the Aadhaar Act.”