Mahua Moitra strikes Supreme Court docket difficult Election Fee’s revision of electoral roll in Bihar


The EC on June 24 issued directions to hold out an SIR in Bihar, apparently to weed out ineligible names and guarantee solely eligible residents are included within the electoral roll.

New Delhi:

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra has moved the Supreme Court docket, difficult an order by the Election Fee of India (ECI) concerning a Particular Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls in Bihar. It’s pertinent to say that Bihar goes to the polls later this yr.

The final Particular Intensive Revision of the voter record in Bihar was carried out in 2003.

What does Mahua Moitra demand?

In her petition, Moitra has requested the Supreme Court docket to right away halt the implementation of the ECI’s order and direct the Fee to not concern any such order in different states.

Mahua Moitra alleges that this order is bigoted, unconstitutional, and excludes the poor, ladies, and migrant voters from the voting course of.

Earlier, the Affiliation of Democratic Reforms had moved the Supreme Court docket, difficult the Election Fee’s path for SIR.  The NGO has sought the setting apart of the order and communication, arguing that it violates Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326 of the Structure, in addition to provisions of the Illustration of Individuals’s Act, 1950, and Rule 21A of the Registration of Electors Guidelines, 1960.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who filed the plea, mentioned the EC order “can arbitrarily and with out due course of” disenfranchise lakhs of voters and disrupt free and honest elections. “That the documentation necessities of the directive, lack of due course of in addition to the unreasonably brief timeline for the mentioned Particular Intensive Revision of Electoral Roll in Bihar additional make this train certain to end in elimination of names of lakhs of real voters from electoral rolls resulting in their disenfranchisement,” Prashant Bhushan mentioned.

Why revision of electoral rolls in Bihar?

On June 24, the Election Fee (EC) issued directions to conduct a Particular Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, geared toward eradicating ineligible names and making certain solely eligible residents are included.

The EC acknowledged that the revision was necessitated by components similar to speedy urbanisation, frequent migration, newly eligible younger voters, non-reporting of deaths, and the inclusion of names of unlawful overseas immigrants. The target, it mentioned, is to keep up the integrity and accuracy of the electoral roll.

Sales space-level officers are finishing up the train via a house-to-house survey for voter verification.

The EC additionally assured that the method would strictly comply with constitutional and authorized provisions, as outlined in Article 326 of the Structure and Part 16 of the Illustration of the Individuals Act, 1950.

Additionally Learn: Bihar Meeting Elections 2025: Voter record revision begins, solely choose paperwork accepted | Particulars

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