NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked petitioners to refrain from terming the special intensive revision ( SIR ) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission in Bihar as "artificial" or "imaginary."
A partial working day (PWD) bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi said that "there is logic" behind the exercise carried out by the poll body, but raises questions about the timing.
However, the apex court raised questions over the Election Commission’s concern about citizenship while conducting the special intensive revision, noting that such matters fall under the jurisdiction of the home ministry.
"Why are you getting into citizenship issue in special revision of electoral rolls in Bihar? It is domain of MHA," the bench asked the poll body.
It also asked the poll body to respond to "why it is not accepting Aadhaar."
The bench further questioned why the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar was undertaken so close to the upcoming assembly elections at the end of the year.
The court observed that there is nothing wrong with the SIR exercise itself but emphasized that it should have been conducted independently of the ensuing election.
The announcement of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar by the Election Commission has stirred a fresh political bickering match in the state which is scheduled to go into a high-stakes assembly election at the end of the year.
The poll body has taken up the mantle of weeding out foreign illegal migrants from the voting list of six states - starting from Bihar.
According to the poll body, it is part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants from countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
"The Constitution of India is supreme. All citizens, political parties, and the El ec tion Commission of India follow the Constitution," EC said in a statement.
The EC said the special revision has already started successfully in Bihar for verifying the eligibility of each elector with "full participation" of all political parties.
The poll panel already has nearly 78,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) and is appointing over 20,000 more for new polling stations, it said.
A partial working day (PWD) bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi said that "there is logic" behind the exercise carried out by the poll body, but raises questions about the timing.
However, the apex court raised questions over the Election Commission’s concern about citizenship while conducting the special intensive revision, noting that such matters fall under the jurisdiction of the home ministry.
"Why are you getting into citizenship issue in special revision of electoral rolls in Bihar? It is domain of MHA," the bench asked the poll body.
It also asked the poll body to respond to "why it is not accepting Aadhaar."
The bench further questioned why the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar was undertaken so close to the upcoming assembly elections at the end of the year.
The court observed that there is nothing wrong with the SIR exercise itself but emphasized that it should have been conducted independently of the ensuing election.
The announcement of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar by the Election Commission has stirred a fresh political bickering match in the state which is scheduled to go into a high-stakes assembly election at the end of the year.
The poll body has taken up the mantle of weeding out foreign illegal migrants from the voting list of six states - starting from Bihar.
According to the poll body, it is part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants from countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
"The Constitution of India is supreme. All citizens, political parties, and the El ec tion Commission of India follow the Constitution," EC said in a statement.
The EC said the special revision has already started successfully in Bihar for verifying the eligibility of each elector with "full participation" of all political parties.
The poll panel already has nearly 78,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) and is appointing over 20,000 more for new polling stations, it said.
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