New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to extend the September 1 deadline set by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for filing claims and objections to the draft electoral rolls published in Bihar after the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The development came after the ECI assured the apex court that objections submitted after September 1, but before the last date of nominations, would still be considered for inclusion in the voters’ list.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing applications filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other political parties seeking an extension of the poll body’s deadline for submitting claims.
In its order, the Justice Kant-led bench stated, “The process of consideration of claims will continue till the last date of nominations. Let the claims/objections be continued to be filed.”
The bench also directed the Bihar State Legal Services Authority to deploy para-legal volunteers (PLVs) to assist voters and political parties in submitting online claims, objections, or corrections. The PLVs are required to submit confidential reports to the respective District Legal Services Authority, which will then be collated at the state level for the top court’s consideration.
According to the ECI, the draft rolls, published on August 1, are being scrutinised through claims and objections filed by political parties, electors, and Booth Level Agents (BLAs). The poll body reported receiving 33,326 claims for inclusion and 2,07,565 objections for exclusion, of which 38,342 have already been disposed of. Over 15.32 lakh new electors aged 18 or above have submitted Form-6 applications, with 81,073 cases disposed of within seven days.
The main batch of petitions challenging the SIR, which was launched on June 24, is scheduled for hearing on September 8.
With IANS inputs