Bihar SIR : ECI Denies Claim Of Disproportionate Exclusion Of Muslims From Voters' List, Calls Petitioners' Argument “Communal Approach"

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has strongly refuted the allegation that there was a “disproportionate exclusion of Muslims” from Bihar's electoral rolls following the State-wide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters.In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the ECI described the claim made by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) as baseless and communal, stating that such an approach “is to be deprecated.”The poll body clarified that its electoral rolls database does not record or capture any information about an elector's religion. Hence, any allegation of religious bias in the voter deletion or inclusion process, it said, is unfounded.According to the affidavit, the petitioners' claim relies on the output of a name-recognition software, which purportedly identified religious identities based on names. The Commission said the authenticity, accuracy, and appropriateness of such a software tool “cannot be commented upon,” implying that it is unreliable and speculative.“The petitioners have sought to allege that there is disproportionate exclusion of Muslims—25% among the 65 lakh excluded voters from the Draft Electoral Roll, and 34% among the 3.66 lakh electors finally deleted. This is based on some software for name recognition, whose accuracy or appropriateness cannot be commented upon. This communal approach is to be deprecated,” the ECI stated.The affidavit further explained that the SIR exercise was conducted meticulously with multiple verification stages, including the involvement of more than 90,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties. The revision process, it said, involved house-to-house verification and the uploading of all relevant data on official websites.The ECI also noted that political parties and public-spirited organisations made little effort to assist in the process of ensuring that all eligible electors were included. Instead, the Commission said, their approach was largely accusatory, focused on pointing out errors rather than contributing constructively.The affidavit pointed out that approximately 3.66 lakh names were deleted after due process, and so far, no appeals have been filed against these deletions. It said that most of the 65 lakh individuals who were not included in the Draft Electoral Roll had either failed to submit the required enumeration forms, had shifted residence permanently, or were deceased.According to the ECI's data, political parties filed only 25 claims for inclusion and 119 objections, while 36,475 inclusion and 2.17 lakh exclusion claims were received directly from individuals.It emphasised that no appeals so far have been received against exclusions from the final list.The ECI stated that the data demonstrates the accuracy of the SIR exercise, asserting that it complied fully with the directions of the Supreme Court and involved oversight from the State Legal Services Authority.It said that the petitioners had made a “great hue and cry” about the alleged non-serving of notices to 3.66 lakh voters deleted after the SIR, but later failed to provide a single specific example of such a case despite being directed by the Supreme Court to do so.“This indicates that no such grievance exists in reality,” the ECI said, warning the Court that there was “a grave danger in entertaining such submissions when elections have already been announced in Bihar.”The ECI emphasised that the exclusion of around 65 lakh names was not due to bias or mass disenfranchisement. Most of these cases, it said, were due to:Death of the voter,Permanent migration or shifting of residence, orDuplicate enrolment across constituencies.“These non-inclusions do not amount to deletion or disenfranchisement by the ECI,” the affidavit said, clarifying that individuals who are dead or permanently shifted are lawfully excluded under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.Section 17 of the Act prohibits multiple enrolments, and any exclusion on account of duplicate entries cannot be termed disenfranchisement, the ECI said.The affidavit accused the petitioners of trying to “take this Hon'ble Court for a ride with ulterior and mala fide motives of creating political narrative to suit electoral interests.”The ECI assured that all 3.66 lakh voters whose names were deleted had been served notices by the Electoral Registration Officers (ERO/AERO) and given an opportunity to be heard. Speaking orders were passed in each case, and copies of those orders were provided to the affected individuals.“So far, as per records, none of them have filed any appeal,” the affidavit stated.The ECI further informed that after processing all claims and objections, 21.53 lakh new electors were added to the draft rolls. The Final Electoral Roll of Bihar now contains 7.42 crore electors.The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the petitions concerning the Bihar SIR exercise to November 4, after being informed by the Election Commission that it is in...

Bihar SIR : ECI Denies Claim Of Disproportionate Exclusion Of Muslims From Voters' List, Calls Petitioners' Argument “Communal Approach"

LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK

Tags