NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider “in the interest of justice” if documents such as Aadhaar, Voter ID and Ration Cards could be accepted for the purpose of verification of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi was dealing with a batch of petitions claiming that if the June 26 decision of the poll body directing SIR is not set aside, it can “arbitrarily” and “without due process” disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, and disrupt free and fair elections and democracy -- a part of basic structure of the Constitution. In its order, the Justice Dhulia-led Bench said that the clutch of petitions raised an “important question” which goes to the very roots of the democratic setup of the country.