The
Supreme
Court
on
Tuesday
issued
a
notice
to
the
Election
Commission
of
India
(ECI)
seeking
a
response
to
allegations
that
it
failed
to
disclose
the
names
of
over
65
lakh
voters
removed
from
Bihar's
electoral
rolls
during
a
Special
Intensive
Revision
(SIR)
process.
The
plea
was
filed
by
the
NGO
Association
for
Democratic
Reforms
(ADR),
which
raised
concerns
over
transparency
and
procedural
violations
in
the
revision
process.

The
three-judge
bench
comprising
Justices
Surya
Kant,
Ujjal
Bhuyan,
and
N
K
Singh
took
note
of
the
allegations
and
directed
the
ECI
to
clarify
whether
the
deleted
voters'
list
was
shared
with
political
party
representatives
and
if
proper
procedures
were
followed.

ADR
Alleges
Opaque
Voter
Deletion

Appearing
on
behalf
of
ADR,
Advocate
Prashant
Bhushan
told
the
court
that
while
the
ECI's
draft
roll
mentions
that
65
lakh
names
were
omitted,
no
public
disclosure
has
been
made
identifying
those
individuals.
"They
have
said
people
are
dead
or
have
migrated,
but
they
haven't
revealed
who.
They
must
disclose
who
the
65
lakhs
are
-
who
have
died,
who
have
migrated," Bhushan
argued.

He
further
claimed
that
several
names
were
removed
without
proper
recommendations
from
Booth
Level
Officers
(BLOs).
"BLOs,
when
forwarding
the
forms,
sometimes
even
mentioned
that
the
person
is
not
recommended
for
deletion,"
Bhushan
said,
questioning
the
reliability
and
legality
of
the
revision
process.

Court
Probes
BLO
Process
and
Political
Party
Communication

Justice
Surya
Kant
referred
to
the
ECI's
Standard
Operating
Procedure
(SOP),
which
requires
that
lists
of
deletions
be
made
available
to
political
party
representatives
at
the
block
level.
However,
Bhushan
countered
this,
stating,
"They
have
not
conveyed
anything.
And
even
if
they
shared
the
list
with
some
parties,
they
did
not
mention
the
reasons
for
deletion."

The
counsel
for
the
Election
Commission
defended
the
process,
asserting
that
the
draft
rolls
were
published
as
required
and
that
the
ECI
could
provide
proof
of
sharing
the
list
with
political
representatives.

Court
Seeks
Clarification
from
ECI

The
bench
asked
the
ECI
to
file
a
formal
reply,
clearly
stating
whether
it
provided
political
parties
with
lists
of
deleted
voters
and
what
justifications,
if
any,
were
communicated
for
each
deletion.

"This
is
still
a
draft," Justice
Kant
noted,
"and
maybe
the
reasons
will
be
added
to
the
final
list."
He
stressed
the
need
for
transparency
to
ensure
that
affected
voters
are
informed
and
have
the
opportunity
to
correct
errors
or
contest
deletions.

A
Matter
of
Electoral
Integrity

The
plea
by
ADR
raises
larger
concerns
about
electoral
integrity
and
voter
disenfranchisement
ahead
of
crucial
elections
in
Bihar
and
across
the
country.
If
the
Supreme
Court
finds
procedural
lapses,
it
could
have
significant
implications
for
how
voter
rolls
are
managed
in
the
future.