Supreme Court directs Bihar Legal Services Authority to assist 3.66 lakh excluded voters in filing appeals

The Supreme Court has directed the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) to direct its district-level bodies to help the 3.66 lakh voters who were excluded from the final voter list to file appeals before the Election Commission (EC).

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said the district legal services authorities should issue a list of para-legal volunteers to assist the affected voters and ensure that they receive detailed orders explaining why their names were removed.

“Everyone should be given a fair opportunity to appeal. The orders should clearly mention the reasons for exclusion and should not be a one-line cryptic rejection,” the bench said.

The court said that though political parties were added as respondents, they appeared to be satisfied with the Special Intensive Review (SIR) process of the Election Commission in Bihar. The bench said it will next consider on October 16 how the appeals of excluded voters can be decided within stipulated time and through reasoned orders.

At the beginning of the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi claimed that the petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has given wrong information in its affidavit. He said that the person cited as an excluded voter was not present in the draft roll, and the details provided were actually of a woman.

Dwivedi said, “The way these documents are being presented is surprising. Earlier, he had claimed that a large number of people, including Muslims, were excluded. Now the story has changed.” He alleged that the NGO was speculating instead of helping the actual voters.

Justice Kant said, “We thought that we would really be able to help the excluded people, but…” and expressed concern over the misrepresentation. After reviewing the record, the bench remarked, “We wonder whether such a person even exists.”

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the ADR, said the details were provided by a reliable source and the identity of the voter could be verified through the district legal services authority. However, the bench expressed displeasure and said it may record its disapproval of the order.

On September 30, the Election Commission published the final voter list of Bihar, in which the total number of voters was reduced by about 47 lakh after the SIR exercise – from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore. However, compared to the draft list released on August 1, the final list saw a net increase of 17.87 lakh voters as 21.53 lakh new names were added and 3.66 lakh were deleted.

The 243-member assembly will go to polls in two phases – 121 seats on November 6 and 122 seats on November 11 – and counting will take place on November 14.