Supreme Court urges Election Commission to correct mistakes in Bihar electoral roll

The Supreme Court has asked the Election Commission to rectify typographical and other errors in the final Bihar electoral roll prepared after a special revision. It also sought transparency on voter deletions and will hear the issue again on November 4

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it expects the Election Commission to look into typographical errors and other mistakes in the final Bihar electoral roll prepared after the Special Intensive Revision exercise as a responsible authority and come out with remedial measures.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said it will hear on November 4 the legal issues related to the Bihar SIR exercise. The poll panel stated that since the publication of the final electoral roll on September 30, no voter has filed an appeal against the deletion of their name.

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Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO ‘Association of Democratic Reforms, said details of a voter claiming his name was not added in the final list, which was alleged by the EC as fake on the October 7 hearing in the matter, were true.

He said that EC should disclose how many voters were deleted and for what revision to ensure transparency in the exercise. The bench noted that the electoral roll will be frozen on October 17 in some constituencies, which are going into poll in the first phase, and on October 20 for those going into poll in the second phase.

On October 7, the top court asked the EC 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 SIR exercise, saying there is “confusion” over the matter.

On September 30, the EC, while publishing the final electoral list of the poll-bound Bihar, said 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.