Allegations of Muslim exclusion from Bihar voters’ list communal, SIR ‘accurate’, says ECI

The Supreme Court recorded the Election Commission's submission that it was in the process of publishing the names of those added to or deleted from the main voters' list in Bihar.

The court recorded ECI’s submission that it was in the process of publishing the same.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) said Thursday the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list carried out by it in Bihar was “accurate”, and allegations that Muslims were disproportionately excluded from the final list, drawn up at the end of the SIR exercise, were “communal”.

The poll body made the remarks in an affidavit filed before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, which is hearing petitions challenging the SIR. Petitioners like NGO Association for Democratic Rights (ADR) and activist Yogendra Yadav have alleged that there was disproportionate exclusion of Muslims in the final voters’ list.

“Petitioners have sought to allege that there is disproportionate exclusion of Muslims (25% amongst 65 lakh excluded voters from the Draft Electoral Roll, and 34% amongst 3.66 lakh electors finally deleted). This is based on some software for name recognition, whose authenticity, accuracy or appropriateness cannot be commented upon. This communal approach is to be deprecated. Electoral Rolls database does not capture any information on the religion of any elector,” the ECI said.

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The Commission also flagged the limited contribution of political parties, “public-spirited” individuals, and organisations in finalising the roll. “Finalisation of electoral roll involves an interplay of all stakeholders, and the SIR is founded on this core principle. While it is the duty of the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to finalise the electoral roll accurately, it is equally the duty of the electors and the contending political parties, particularly the recognised political parties, to actively participate in ensuring that the final electoral roll is as inclusive and accurate as possible,” it said.

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“The various notes presented to this Hon’ble Court indicate that, barring the appointment of Booth Level Agents, the political parties and public-spirited individuals and organisations made no substantial contribution in ensuring that all the eligible electors were included in the Final Electoral Roll. The approach of the political parties and the Petitioners has been to accuse the ECI and attempt to point out errors in the SIR exercise.”

“In contrast, the ECl not only appointed more than 90,000 BLOs, but also involved the political parties and got BLAs appointed. The exercise was conducted on an H2H (House to House) basis involving more than one visit. All relevant data was uploaded to the websites. Additionally, whatever directions given by this Hon’ble Court were also complied with. This Court also enabled the assistance of the State Legal Services Authority, yet the number of objections and correction applications was minimal. This indicates that the SIR exercise was accurate.”

On Thursday, the petitioners urged the bench hearing the petitions to direct the Election Commission to publish the names of those added to or deleted from the main list. The court recorded ECI’s submission that it was in the process of publishing the same. “We have no doubt that they will fulfil their responsibility… They are bound to publish… We are not closing the matter.”