Asaduddin Owaisi moves SC challenging SIR
In Short
Seeks restoration of Form 6 on ECINET
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Asaduddin Owaisi moves SC challenging SIR
New Delhi: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the manner in which the Election Commission is conducting the SIR, claiming that the constitutional and statutory safeguards have been overlooked and the voting rights
of eligible citizens have been jeopardised.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the submission of advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for Owaisi, that the plea be listed on Thursday along with other pending ones on the issue. Assuring consideration, the CJI-led bench indicated that it would examine the matter and the reference to similar petitions. Pasha submitted that the relevant cases had been identified in the memo accompanying his request for listing.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 10 prominent Opposition leaders and others have also moved the top court against the alleged malpractices in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and other related processes.
Owaisi, in his plea filed through lawyer Lzafeer Ahmad, has sought judicial intervention to ensure that the revision process complies with the Representation of the People Act and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. “Declare that the decisions affecting the SIR not duly authorised in accordance with the law, including Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, are liable to be set aside,” the plea said.
The plea said it does not challenge the Election Commission’s (EC) authority to conduct an intensive revision of electoral rolls. Instead, it questions whether the EC has exercised that authority lawfully, transparently and through procedures prescribed by law. “Declare that the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, cannot be superseded or supplemented by alternative forms or substantive conditions introduced through portal modifications or executive instructions unsupported by law,” it said.
The plea sought a direction to the poll panel to forthwith restore Form 6 on the ECINET portal to the form prescribed under the Registration of
Electors Rules.
