New Delhi [India], July 11 : Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday stated that the Election Commission of India's (ECI) "spin" on "no stay" being given has been clearly "exposed" by the Supreme Court.
Ramesh, the General Secretary in charge of Communications for Congress, posted a picture of the order on X, stating that Page 7 of the order clearly indicated that no stay was requested by any of the petitioners.
He then said that deliberately "misleading" headline management does not befit a Constitutional authority.
"Following the Honble Supreme Court's order that has just come out officially, the Election Commission now has to include the EPIC, Aadhar cards, and Ration Cards in the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar. This will save a vast majority of voters from being disenfranchised," Ramesh said on X.
"Moreover, the EC's spin on the no stay being given has been clearly exposed. Page 7 of the order makes it clear that no stay was asked for by any of the petitioners yesterday. Such deliberately misleading headline management does not befit a Constitutional authority," he added.
https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1943570363218002323
On Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed the Election Commission to continue with its exercise of conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi did not stay the SIR process but asked the ECI to consider allowing Aadhaar, ration cards, and electoral photo identity cards as admissible documents to prove voter identity during the SIR of electoral rolls being undertaken in Bihar.
"We are of the prima facie opinion that in the interest of justice, the Election Commission will also include documents like Aadhaar, Ration Card, Voter ID card, etc. It is for the ECI to decide whether it wants to accept the documents or not, and if it does not, then provide reasons for its decision, which shall be sufficient to satisfy the petitioners. Meanwhile, petitioners are not pressing for an interim stay," the bench stated in its order.
In its order, the top court noted that the timeline for the process is very short since elections in Bihar are due in November.
The apex court posted for hearing on July 28 the pleas challenging ECI's move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar and asked the poll panel to file its affidavit within one week.
During the hearing, the bench opined that Aadhaar should be included within the list of documents permissible as an ID proof.
The apex court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's move to conduct the SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
The petitions challenging the ECI decision were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.
The petitions sought a direction to quash the ECI's June 24 directive, which requires large sections of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the electoral rolls.
The petition also raised concerns over the exclusion of widely held documents like Aadhaar and ration cards, stating that this would disproportionately affect the poor and marginalised voters, especially in rural Bihar.