New Delhi, 29 July

Terming the Election Commission a constitutional authority deemed to act in accordance with law, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will step in immediately if there is "mass exclusion" in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi fixed a timeline for considering a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission's SIR exercise in Bihar and said hearing on the issue will be held on 12 and 13 August. Stressing the point, it asked the petitioners to bring in "15 people whom they say are dead and are alive".

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, once again alleged that people are being left out from the draft list to be published on 1 August by the poll panel and will lose their crucial right to vote.

Bhushan said the EC has issued a statement that 65 lakh persons have not submitted the enumeration forms during the SIR process as they are either dead or have permanently shifted elsewhere. These people will have to apply afresh for inclusion in the list, he submitted.

Justice Kant said, "The Election Commission of India, being a constitutional authority, is deemed to act in accordance with the law. If any wrongdoing is done, you bring to the notice of the court. We will hear you."

Justice Bagchi added, "Your apprehension is that 65 lakh odd voters will not feature in the draft list. Now ECI is seeking correction in the electoral roll. We are overviewing the process as a judicial authority. If there is mass exclusion, we will immediately step in. You bring 15 people whom they say are dead and are alive."

Sibal, appearing for RJD MP Manoj Jha, said the Election Commission knows who these 65 lakh people are and no one will have a problem if they mention their names in the draft list.

"If the draft list is conspicuously silent, you will bring to our notice," Justice Kant said.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, said enumeration forms can be filed even after the draft list publication.

The bench asked the petitioners and the poll panel to file their written submissions by 8 August.

It appointed nodal officers from petitioners side and the Election Commission side for filing written submissions/compilations.

On Monday, observing there should be "en masse inclusion" instead of "en masse exclusion” in the ongoing SIR exercise of voters’ list in poll-bound Bihar, the top court asked the Election Commission to continue accepting Aadhaar and voter ID documents.

Underscoring the "presumption of genuineness" of the two documents, the top court also refused to stay the publication of the draft electoral roll in Bihar.

The draft roll is scheduled to be published on 1 August and the final roll on 30 September amid opposition claims that the ongoing exercise will deprive crores of eligible citizens from their right to vote.

On 10 July, a bench headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the EC to consider Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards as valid documents as it allowed the poll panel to continue with its exercise in Bihar.

The EC affidavit has justified its ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it adds to the purity of the election by "weeding out ineligible persons" from the electoral rolls.