Bihar SIR: SC agrees to hear pleas to extend September 1 deadline for claims, objections

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on Monday a plea by RJD over extension of time for filing claims and objections for voter registration in Bihar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the petitioners mentioned the matter before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi seeking one week extension of the September 1 deadline.

The counsel submitted that RJD and few other parties have filed applications seeking the extension of the September 1 deadline to file claims and objections with regard to the draft voters list.

The court was informed that parties wanted one week extension of the deadline claiming that over 1,75,000 claims were made before and after the August 22 court order.

On August 22, the court had ordered that the people who are excluded from the draft electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar can submit their applications for inclusion through online mode and that physical submission of forms is not necessary.

It had said that individual person at their own or with assistance of booth-level agents (BLAs) of political are entitled to apply online and not necessary to submit application in physical form. The court had earlier also allowed use of Aadhaar card for the purpose.

The bench had said all 12 political parties in Bihar shall issue specific directions to party workers to assist in people in filing and submission of requisite forms with any 11 documents in form 6 or Aadhaar Card to get themselves included in the voters list.

It had said BLAs of all political parties are directed to make endeavour that approximately 65 lakh people not included in the draft rolls are facilitated, except those who are dead or have voluntarily migrated, in submitting their objections by cutoff date of September 1.

In a batch of petitions challenging the move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, the Election Commission had also filed an affidavit saying the list of names and details of 65 lakh electors in Bihar who were not included in the draft roll published on August 1 had been posted on the websites of all 38 District Electoral Officers in the state.

The list also contained the reasons for their non-inclusion, including death, shifting of ordinary residence or duplicate entries, ECI had told the apex court.

The ECI had filed an affidavit in compliance of August 14 directions of the Supreme Court directing it to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of approximately 65 lakh electors not included in the draft electoral roll during the ongoing SIR exercise in poll-bound Bihar.

The petitions challenging the ECI decision were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.

The pleas sought direction to quash the ECI’s June 24 directive which requires large sections of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the electoral rolls.

The petitions also raised concerns over the exclusion of widely held documents like Aadhaar and ration cards, stating that this would disproportionately affect the poor and marginalised voters, especially in rural Bihar.