Challenge To Bihar Electoral Roll Revision : Live Updates From Supreme Court

J Bagchi: what about the voter identity card EPIC card?

Sankarnarayanan: that cannot be used. Even if it is issued by them it cannot be used.

J Dhulia: and anxiety may be that persons who are in electoral roll in 2003 may not be surviving now.

Sankarnarayanan: that has been revised the electoral because of the summary revision. they have been revised all the way up to January 2025.

Sankarnarayanan: if 7.9 crore people are continuously voting and are in the electoral roll where is the question of removing them? The law doesn't permit them to be removed

Sankarnarayanan: I am not claiming that Aadhar is a proof of citizenship for a person has not been on the electoral roll. But it is proof of authentication for someone who is already on the roll

Sankarnarayanan: as per the amendment to the Act Aadhaar number given by UIDAI can be provided as proof.

J Bagchi: so what you are saying is under the principal act Aadhar is considered as a relevant document of identity and so deletion of Aadhar as one of the identifying documents runs countrary to the scheme of the act?

Sankarnarayanan: Yes

J Bagchi: subsection 3 of section 21 of RoPA provides that eci can conduct a special revision of the electoral roll in such manner that it may think fit

Sankarnarayanan: whatever revision they do they have to do it only in the prescribed manner.

J Dhulia: that they are doing...

Sankarnarayanan: they are not doing it

Sankarnarayanan: they have been doing it every year for almost all states, the summary revision

J Dhulia: you are not challenging the power of the ECI?

Sankarnarayanan: I am not challenging its power. I am challenging the manner in which it is conducted

J Dhulia: does the Rules say that the Election Commission has to conduct the intensive revision periodically or when? Do they have to do it or is it up to them?

Sankarnarayanan: section 14 gives the qualification date either 1st January, 1st April, or 1st July, or October of the year in which it is revised. So if they decide to do a revision they have to set one of those dates as qualifying dates.

Sankarnarayanan: they are saying that before 2003 the presumption of citizenship is in your favour. However after 2003 when you have even if you have voted in five elections it doesn't matter the presumption of citizenship is not in your favour

J Dhulia: but there is a practicality involved. They fixed the date because it was the first time after computerisation. So there is a logic. You can demolish it but you cannot say that there is no logic.