The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, saying it would once and for all decide the pleas against the Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said it would fix on July 29 the schedule to conduct the final hearing of the matter.
What arguments were put forward by Sankaranarayanan?
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for an NGO, stated that the electoral rolls should not be finalised in the interim and that there should be an interim stay on the publication of the draft rolls.
What did the court say?
The bench observed that the last order of the top court noted the petitioners not pressing for an interim relief, and therefore, it couldn’t be done now, and the matter would be interpreted once and for all.
It asked the poll panel to continue accepting Aadhaar and voter ID for the SIR exercise in Bihar in compliance with its order saying both documents had a “presumption of genuineness”.
The court said it prima facie agreed with the order of the top court, and the EC accepted in its counter-affidavit that Aadhaar, voter cards and ration cards were required to be accepted.
“As far as ration cards are concerned, we can say they can be forged easily, but Aadhaar and voter cards have some sanctity and have a presumption of genuineness. You continue accepting these documents,” the bench said