ADR moves SC challenging EC's revision of electoral roll in Bihar

New Delhi: The Association of Democratic Reforms has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Election Commission's direction for a Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The EC on June 24 issued instructions to carry out an SIR in Bihar, apparently to weed out ineligible names and ensure only eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll.

Bihar goes to the polls later this year.

The NGO has sought the setting aside of the order and communication, arguing that it violates Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326 of the Constitution, as well as provisions of the Representation of People's Act, 1950, and Rule 21A of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who filed the plea, said the EC order "can arbitrarily and without due process" disenfranchise lakhs of voters and disrupt free and fair elections.

"That the documentation requirements of the directive, lack of due process as well as the unreasonably short timeline for the said Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Roll in Bihar further make this exercise bound to result in removal of names of lakhs of genuine voters from electoral rolls leading to their disenfranchisement," Prashant Bhushan said.

The last such revision in Bihar was conducted in 2003.

According to the EC, the exercise was necessitated by rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants.

It said that with the exercise, it wants to ensure the integrity and preparation of error-free electoral rolls.

The SIR is being conducted by the booth officers, who are conducting a house-to-house survey for verification.

The EC said it will scrupulously adhere to the constitutional and legal provisions as laid down in Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, in carrying out the revision.