New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Election Commission (EC) to go ahead with publishing the draft electoral rolls for Bihar on August 1, as part of its Special Intensive Revision process. The Court declined to stay the EC’s scheduled release despite concerns raised over voter exclusion.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi briefly heard the matter but refrained from a detailed discussion, citing Justice Kant’s prior administrative commitment with the Chief Justice. Nevertheless, the Court assured the petitioners that the matter would be taken up for full hearing soon and requested counsel to submit time estimates for their arguments by Saturday.
Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), urged the Court to delay publication, arguing that nearly 4.5 crore voters could be affected if found excluded. He pointed out that once the draft list is released, those left out would be forced to file individual claims and objections for inclusion.
Responding, Justice Kant noted that the draft list is provisional in nature and can later be invalidated if any irregularities are identified. “This is not the final list. If there is any illegality, it will be corrected,” he observed.
The petitioners further alleged that the EC was not fully complying with the Court’s earlier directive from July 10, which mandated the consideration of documents like Aadhaar, Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), and Ration Cards for voter verification.
In its affidavit, the EC raised doubts over the authenticity of some documents, particularly ration cards, citing the prevalence of forged versions. The bench, however, orally suggested that the Commission should at least give due consideration to statutory documents such as Aadhaar and EPIC for the verification process.
The matter is expected to be taken up for detailed hearing in the coming days.
