The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave petitioners 10 days to respond to the Election Commission regarding Bihar electoral roll revisions. The commission defended its actions, saying the exercise was authorised by law. The court also issued notices on a fresh plea by Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen about Form 6.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave petitioners 10 days to respond to the Election Commission's affidavit defending the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, news agency Press Trust of India reported. The commission maintained that the exercise was authorised by law and that all related orders had been unanimously approved by its three members.
The court also issued notices to the Election Commission and others on a fresh plea by Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen. The petition alleged that changes were made to Form 6 during the revision of Bihar's electoral rolls without the Supreme Court's approval.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard the matter. Senior advocate and MP Maneka Guruswamy, appearing for Sen, said the commission had wrongly claimed that the changes to Form 6 were approved by the court.
While issuing notice, the Chief Justice said all the issues would be examined. He asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing the first petitioner, Rakesh Kumar Singh, to file a rejoinder within 10 days to the commission's reply affidavit, which was filed late on Monday evening.
In its 248-page response to the petition against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the decisions taken by the poll panel, the Election Commission strongly defended the revision exercise, PTI reported.
The commission rejected allegations that Form 6 had been amended and said no changes were made to the statutory form used for voter registration.
“The attempt to make aspersions against the Election Commission is unfortunate,” the affidavit said. It was filed by Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu on behalf of the commission.
The commission also said the filing of the affidavit had been approved unanimously by all three members of the poll panel.
The petitions were filed after The Indian Express reported on September 25 that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over the previous 10 months to decisions and orders concerning the revision of electoral rolls. According to the report, they said the orders had been issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The claim led to protests by opposition parties and the Cockroach Janta Party, which demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Kumar.
The Supreme Court will examine the allegations concerning Form 6 and the conduct of the electoral roll revision after the petitioners file their response to the Election Commission's affidavit within 10 days.