SC asks EC to furnish details of 3.66 lakh excluded voters from final Bihar electoral roll

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to provide details of 3.66 lakh voters who were part of the draft voter list but were excluded from the final electoral roll prepared after Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, saying there is "confusion" over the matter.

Noting that there were 65 lakh deletions when the draft list was prepared but names were added in the final list, the court asked whether the add-ons are "deleted names or new names".

The poll panel informed the apex court that most of the names added in the final list after the publication of the draft list on August 30 were of new voters and that no complaint or appeal has been filed till now by any excluded voter.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the directions after some petitioners, including political leaders from opposition parties like RJD, Congress and CPI (M), said that the Election Commission (EC) has not given any notice or reasons to the deleted voters for their exclusion from the final electoral list.

The bench, which was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the June 24 decision of the Election Commission to conduct the SIR in poll-bound Bihar, said the EC will submit whatever information it gets on excluded voters by Thursday (October 9), when it will hold the next hearing on these pleas.

The top court said everyone has the draft electoral roll and the final list has also been published on September 30, so the required data can be furnished through a comparative analysis.

Justice Bagchi told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, that court orders have resulted in more transparency and access to the electoral process.

The bench said that since it appears from the number of electors in the final list that there is an appreciation of numbers from the draft rolls, therefore, to avoid any confusion, the identity of add-ons should be disclosed.

"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.

"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. You have the draft and the final list. Just cull out these details and give us the information," Justice Bagchi said.

Dwivedi replied that most of the names added are of new voters and there were a few old voters whose names were added after the draft roll was published.

"No complaint or appeal filed till now by any excluded voters," Dwivedi said.

At the outset, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Rashtriya Janta Dal, and senior advocate Abhishek M Singhvi, appearing for opposition leaders challenging the poll panel decision to conduct the SIR, alleged that excluded voters were not given any notice or reasons for their deletion.

"Nobody knows whether the addition of names was from the 65 lakh excluded voters from the draft roll or whether new voters were added which reduced the number of excluded voters in the final list," Singhvi said.

Bhushan alleged that the poll panel has not been following the required rules and, instead of cleaning the electoral roll, the SIR has compounded the problem.

"Total lack of transparency. When your lordships forced them to give a list of 65 lakh names, only then they gave the details and made it public. Now, they have not given a list of 3.66 lakh voters deleted due to objections filed after the publication of the draft roll," he submitted.

Dwivedi countered the arguments, saying every individual voter whose name has been deleted has been given the order.

Justice Kant said if any of the petitioners or the aggrieved persons are before the court, the bench can direct the Election Commission to give the list of voters out of these 3.66 lakh who have not received orders.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for some Bihar-based activists, said the chief electoral officer’s website of Bihar gives only disaggregated data and does not disclose details of gender-wise and age-wise claims and exclusions.

The bench issued notice on the plea filed through Grover and asked the EC to respond.

It also issued a notice on the plea of advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking clarification of Form-6, which is used by citizens for adding of their names to the electoral rolls.

The bench told senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appearing for Upadhyay, that the court has already said Aadhaar is not the proof of citizenship and domicile.

On September 30, the EC, while publishing the final electoral list of the poll-bound Bihar, said that the total number of electors has come down by nearly 47 lakh to 7.42 crore in the final electoral roll from 7.89 crore before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list carried out by the Election Commission.

The final figure has, however, increased by 17.87 lakh from 7.24 crore electors named in the draft list issued on August 1, which had removed 65 lakh voters from the original list on various accounts, including deaths, migration and duplication of voters.

While 21.53 lakh new electors have been added to the draft list, 3.66 lakh names have been removed, resulting in a net increase of 17.87 lakh.

The assembly elections in Bihar will be held in 121 seats of the 243-member Assembly on November 6, while the remaining 122 constituencies will go to polls on November 11. The counting of votes will be held on November 14.