Sasaram (Bihar) [India] July 10 : Jan Suraaj Founder Prashant Kishor on Thursday criticised the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying that eligible voters above 18 years of have the right to vote and they should not be stopped from exercising that.
While speaking to the media, Kishor said, "People above 18 years of age in Bihar have the right to vote and they should not be stopped from voting. What the Election Commission is doing is wrong."
Kishor hopes to find redress through the courts, saying, " We hope that we will get justice from the court..."
Earlier today, 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.
"We feel since Aadhar has been taken as a solid proof for inclusion in electoral rolls... it should be included. Your enumeration list is all related to identity - matriculation certificate, etc.," observed the bench.
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.