ECI terms allegations of Muslim voter exclusion in Bihar as 'communal', defends revision process
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday submitted before the Supreme Court that allegations of disproportionate exclusion of Muslim voters from the electoral rolls in Bihar were “communal” and unfounded. The Commission defended the accuracy of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and maintained that the revision process adhered to all legal and procedural standards.
In its affidavit filed before a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, the ECI refuted claims made by petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and political activist Yogendra Yadav, who alleged that Muslims were disproportionately removed from the electoral rolls during the revision process.
According to the petitioners, 25% of the 65 lakh voters excluded from the draft roll and 34% of the 3.66 lakh voters ultimately deleted were identified as Muslims, based on name-recognition software. The ECI, however, contested both the methodology and the intent behind such claims.
“The Petitioners have sought to allege disproportionate exclusion of Muslims… This is based on some software for name recognition, whose authenticity, accuracy or appropriateness cannot be commented upon,” the ECI stated in its affidavit. “This communal approach is to be deprecated. Electoral Rolls database does not capture any information on the religion of any elector.”
The ECI also highlighted the limited engagement from political parties and civil society actors during the SIR process, despite opportunities for public participation and correction.
“Finalisation of the electoral roll involves an interplay of all stakeholders. While it is the duty of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to finalise the roll, political parties and electors are equally responsible for ensuring accuracy and inclusiveness,” the affidavit noted.
The Commission pointed out that over 90,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were deployed, and multiple house-to-house (H2H) verification visits were carried out. It added that all directions from the Supreme Court were followed, and data related to inclusions and deletions were uploaded online.
Despite this, the Commission noted that the number of objections and correction applications received was minimal, suggesting that the revision exercise was comprehensive and accurate.
During the hearing, the petitioners requested the Court to direct the ECI to publish the names of those added or deleted from the final voters’ list. The Court took note of the Commission’s assurance that the names would be published and stated that it expected full compliance.
“We have no doubt that they will fulfil their responsibility… They are bound to publish. We are not closing the matter,” the bench observed.
Earlier, the Court had noted discrepancies between Bihar’s adult population and the number of registered voters, citing a 107% mismatch, which led to its approval of the SIR.
The matter remains under judicial consideration.
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ED attaches fresh assets in PMLA case against Reliance Group; total attachment over Rs 10K cr
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has attached fresh assets worth Rs 1,120 crore as part of its money laundering probe against the companies of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani, officials said.
Eighteen properties, including the Reliance Centre in Mumbai's Ballard Estate, fixed deposits, bank balance and shareholding in unqouted investments of Reliance Anil Ambani Group have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
Another set of seven properties of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, two properties of Reliance Power Ltd, nine properties of Reliance Value Service Private Ltd, fixed deposits in the name of Reliance Value Service Private Ltd, Reliance Venture Asset Management Private Lt, Phi Management Solutions Private Ltd, Adhar Property Consultancy Pvt Ltd, Gamesa Investment Management Private Ltd and investments made in unquoted investment by Reliance Venture Asset Management Private Ltd and Phi Management Solutions Private Ltd have also been attached, they said.
The ED had earlier attached properties worth over Rs 8,997 crore in the bank fraud cases related to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, and Reliance Home Finance Ltd.
The total attachment in the case against the Reliance Group is now Rs 10,117 crore.
