No interim stay on draft electoral roll publication in Bihar: SC asks EC to accept Aadhaar, voter ID

Appearing for an NGO, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said the electoral rolls should not be finalised in the interim, and there should be an interim stay on the publication of the draft rolls.

The bench observed the last order of the top court noted the petitioners were not pressing for an interim relief and, therefore, it couldn’t be done now and matter would be interpreted once for all, PTI quoted.

On acceptance of Aadhaar card, voter ID in SIR

The SC reiterated its suggestion to the poll panel to continue accepting Aadhaar and voter ID for the SIR exercise in Bihar in compliance with its order saying both documents had a “presumption of genuineness”.

The court said it prima facie agreed with the order of the top court and the EC accepted in its counter affidavit that Aadhaar, voter cards and ration cards were required to be accepted.

“As far as ration cards are concerned, we can say they can be forged easily but Aadhaar and voter cards have some sanctity and have presumption of genuineness. You continue accepting these documents,” the bench said.

Earlier, on July 10, the SC, while declining to restrain the EC from proceeding with the SIR in Bihar, suggested the poll panel to consider Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards for the purpose of updating the rolls.

The EC, in a counter-affidavit filed in court on July 22, however, said it was its “Constitutional authority” to determine whether the requirement of citizenship is fulfilled by electors, but citizenship of an individual will “not terminate” on account of being held ineligible as an elector.

Responding to the poll body’s claim in the SC, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), had argued that it flies in the face of past judgments. It also called the exclusion of Aadhaar and ration cards from the list of acceptable documents “patently absurd,” noting that Aadhaar is widely accepted when applying for passports, caste certificates, and permanent residence documents.

The first phase of SIR of Bihar’s electoral rolls concluded last Friday, with EC declaring about 92 per cent of 7.89 crore registered voters in the state would remain on the draft rolls to be published on August 1.

About 8 per cent, or approximately 65 lakh names, are likely to be removed from the draft rolls after they were found to be either deceased, registered in more than one place, permanently migrated to another place, or untraceable, according to the EC.

The Assembly elections are due to be held in Bihar later this year.