Supreme Court Allows Aadhaar Use in Updating Voter Rolls
The Supreme Court on Friday reprimanded political parties in Bihar for not doing enough to help over 65 lakh voters who were deleted from the rolls.
Allowing persons whose names were deleted from the voter list revision India from the Aadhaar voter roll in the run up to the elections this year, the court said they could use their Aadhaar card as proof of identity. The Aadhaar Election Commission has been asked to add Aadhaar to the list of 11 identity cards it currently accepts.
The Supreme Court Aadhaar ruling that of the 65 lakh voters whose names were deleted from the list, about 35 lakh were still left out even after the names of those who were marked as deceased or duplicates are struck off. The judges asked the affected voters to move fast. Justice Surya Kant said the “last date for getting the matter done” is September 1 and the exercise could be completed online as well, Justice Joymalya Bagchi pointed out.
The bench, hearing a clutch of petitions against the “special intensive revision” of the electoral roll, made it clear that persons could apply for re-inclusion of their names in the voter list using any one of the 11 approved identity cards, including Aadhaar.
The court had a word of scorn for the state’s political parties, several of which had challenged the voter list revision on the ground that the exercise was aimed at disenfranchising certain communities that usually vote for them. “They (parties) can’t come to court and say we will not help,” the bench observed. The parties had no explanation for their inaction, the court added. “Political parties are not doing their jobs,” the bench said. “MPs or MLAs may have individually filed objections but what are your booth-level agents (BLAs) doing? Parties have to be proactive in helping the voters,” the court added.
It was told that only two objections had been filed by political parties which have a total of over 1.6 lakh BLAs. Disposing of a second concern, the court said Aadhaar validity for elections officials must ensure that an acknowledgment receipt is given to the BLAs whenever they file forms in connection with voters.
