• Source:JND
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Bihar Voter List Revision: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the pleas challenging the Election Commission's decision to revise the voters list ahead of the much-hyped Bihar assembly polls on July 10. The apex court reportedly allowed the opposition parties to serve the advance notice of the petitions to the poll body. However, the apex court declined the request to immediately halt the revision process. The Election Commission's mandate on document submission to prove eligibility to vote has stirred a row in Bihar. Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and Shadan Farasat jointly mentioned the matter before the bench comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.

Earlier on June 24, the poll body asked the voters to present at least one of the 11 listed documents to get their names added to the voters list. The Election Commission also stated that the document must be presented before July 25, as the final list will be announced on August 1. However, the opposition parties claimed that the documents are hard to arrange in a short span of time. They added that most of the documents, including passports, are possessed by less than 5 per cent of the population. 

Earlier on July 6, Rashtriya Janata Dal challenged the process in the apex court by stating that the poll body was trying to snatch the democratic rights of people. Apart from this, Trinamool Congress's Mahua Moitra, activist Yogendra Yadav, PUCL, and the Association for Democratic Reforms had already reached the Supreme Court challenging the same.

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The petitioners argued that the revision process violates the fundamental rights of citizens, including 14, 19(1)(a), 21, 325, and 328, along with provisions of the Representation of People (RP) Act, 1950. "It is submitted that it is for the very first time in the country that such an exercise is being conducted by ECI, where electors whose names are already there in electoral rolls and who have already voted multiple times are being asked to prove their eligibility," Mahua Moitra stated in her petition.

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Apart from this, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan stated that the revision could affect lakhs of genuine voters in the poll-bound state. "That the documentation requirements of the directive, lack of due process as well as the unreasonably short timeline for the said Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Roll in Bihar further make this exercise bound to result in removal of names of lakhs of genuine voters from electoral rolls leading to their disenfranchisement," the advocate stated. However, the Election Commission clarified that the revision is being conducted as per the rules.