SC questions timing of Bihar voter list revision, not the exercise itself
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday raised serious concerns over the timing of the Election Commission's special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, stating that while the process itself may be lawful, its execution so close to the upcoming Assembly elections risks disenfranchising eligible voters.
A bench headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia remarked, "Your exercise is not the problem... it is the timing." The court observed that voters whose names are omitted from the rolls during this revision may not have sufficient time to appeal or seek redress before the elections.
"There is nothing wrong in the exercise... except that a person will be disenfranchised ahead of the election and s/he won't have the time to defend the exclusion before voting," Justice Dhulia noted.
The court was hearing a petition challenging the Election Commission’s move, which requires voters registered after 2003 to re-verify their identities using documents from a specified list. The petitioners, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan, argued that the revision was "arbitrary" and "discriminative," particularly because it affects voters who have been on the rolls for over a decade.
Sankaranarayan contended that the list of acceptable identification documents excludes both Aadhaar, India’s widely-used biometric ID—and even the EC's own voter ID card. This, he argued, placed an undue burden on long-standing voters.
The Election Commission, in response, defended the 2003 cut-off, which was also upheld by the court, with the bench stating that the date "has a logic to it."
Despite this, the court expressed concern that voters unaware of the revision or unable to comply promptly may lose their right to vote in the upcoming elections.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
