Forms from 90.12 pc electors have been collected: ECI tells SC

New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Supreme Court that, pursuant to its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, enumeration forms from 90.12 per cent electors have already been collected.

In an affidavit filed before the top court, the poll body said that pursuant to the SIR process, as on July 18, enumeration forms from 7. 11 crore out of the 7.89 crore existing electors in Bihar, have already been collected and accounting for “deceased individuals, permanently shifted electors, and those enrolled in more than one place, the forms collection phase of the SIR has effectively covered 94.68 per cent of the nearly 7.90 crore-strong electorate in Bihar”.

As per the ECI, all political parties have appreciated the necessity and correctness of the SIR exercise and have been cooperating and participating in its timely completion.

The poll body said that it undertook the SIT exercise – the only legally recognised alternative under the existing legal framework for a comprehensive, ground-up preparation of the electoral rolls – to restore public confidence and address other concerns like the presence of names of deceased, shifted and non-citizens in the electoral rolls.

Responding to the petitioners contention that there was no reason for such intensive electoral rolls revision in a poll-bound state in such a short period of time, the ECI, in its affidavit, said, “Given that it is a pan-India exercise aimed, it was necessary to commence the SIR with the State of Bihar, which goes to polls in the middle of November, in order to ensure that the purity of electoral roll is maintained and ineligible voters are weeded out.”

The ECI is of the view that accuracy and completeness of the electoral roll is absolutely essential for democracy and the poll body has been charged with a constitutional duty to ensure its purity, it added.

The poll body said that the entire edifice of the petition challenging the SIR exercise rests on newspaper articles and columns, which are "replete with misleading facts" and claimed that there has been a deliberate attempt to twist the narrative against the SIR exercise and portray the poll body in a poor light.

“It is trite law that newspaper articles do not constitute reliable evidence on facts stated therein. This Hon'ble has held that judicial notice of facts and figures stated in a newspaper cannot be taken as such facts and figures are merely hearsay secondary evidence,” the affidavit said.

It added that the newspaper articles relied upon by the petitioners to drum up a narrative of exclusion should be “discarded in totality” and such an impermissible methodology would not deserve any indulgence from the top court.

Terming the pleas against the June 26 decision of the poll body directing SIR as “pre-mature”, the ECI said that the contentions raised in the petitions are entirely unsustainable.

“The allegation of exclusion of any eligible voter based upon suspicion is entirely incorrect and unsustainable. [T]he SIR exercise is inclusionary and every attempt has been made by the ECI and its officials to ensure that no eligible elector is excluded from the electoral roll,” said the affidavit, adding that there are “multiple layers of checks at all stages of the process” and no name of any elector will be deleted from the electoral roll without due process and compliance with principles of natural justice.

Saying that every effort has been made to ensure that no eligible electors stand excluded from the electoral roll, the ECI submitted that it has “special focus” directed towards the marginalised, old, poor, sick, etc. to facilitate their enrolment to the extent possible, including through deployment of volunteers for obtaining eligibility documents.

As per the poll body, each elector who has submitted the enumeration form with or without documents will be included in the draft roll to be published on August 1 and if any elector who has been unable to submit his enumeration forms is entitled to seek inclusion in the final roll by submitting a claim in the prescribed form along with the declaration.

“Therefore, any person excluded from the draft roll has another opportunity to be included by submission of the form with declaration and documents. This claims period is stipulated for another period of thirty-one days after the publication of the draft roll till, i.e., 1 September 2025,” the ECI said.

After the completion of the entire process, the final roll will be published on September 30, it added. As per the ECI, even after the publication of the final roll, new electors can be enrolled up to the last date of nominations of the forthcoming Assembly elections in Bihar.

“This is an ongoing process in each election to maximise inclusion. Any apprehension of huge/substantial ensure disenfranchisement is therefore misleading and non-existent,” the affidavit said.

--IANS

pds/dan