Guiding principle to defend, not deny the right to vote
Are alternative mechanisms, such as witness testimony or affidavits, in place if a citizen can't provide documents or meet the deadline? In an abrupt, short exercise foisted on them, rigid systems and procedural obstacles cannot arbitrarily deny the right to vote. The State must play a facilitative role to enable the right. The default presumption must be of inclusion. In the long term, we must debate making the right to vote a fundamental right so that electors can seek direct judicial redressal, and disenfranchisement necessarily passes the test of reasonableness and proportionality, ensuring that it is never arbitrary or excessive. Democracy celebrates elections, more so, their participatory nature.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
31 minutes ago
- First Post
Why is Bihar electoral roll being revised? What's the uproar over it?
The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission's order to conduct a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The poll body's decision is facing flak, with the opposition questioning the timing of the exercise and raising concerns that it will disenfranchise numerous voters read more The EC has announced a Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar. X/@CEOBihar The Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar just months ahead of the Assembly elections in the state has come under scrutiny. The opposition has raised objections to the exercise, while the poll body has defended the move. The Supreme Court has now decided to hear a bunch of petitions challenging the EC's revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The apex court has, however, not paused the exercise so far. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Let's take a closer look. EC's power to prepare electoral rolls Article 324(1) of the Constitution empowers the Election Commission with the 'superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of' elections to Parliament and state legislatures. The electoral rolls are prepared by the EC as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RP Act). Section 21(3) of the RP Act states that the ECI 'may at any time… direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit'. According to the Registration of Electors' Rules, 1960, the revision of electoral rolls can be carried out 'either intensively or summarily or partly intensively and partly summarily, as the [ECI] may direct'. A fresh electoral roll is drawn up in an intensive revision, while the roll is amended in a summary revision. EC's reasons for intensive revision of voter lists in Bihar On June 24, the Election Commission announced a 'special intensive revision' of the electoral roll in poll-bound Bihar. It asked all existing voters who were not on the electoral rolls in 2003 to provide documentation proving their eligibility by July 26. Justifying its order, the poll body said that 'during the last 20 years significant change in electoral roll has taken place due to additions and deletions on a large scale', and 'rapid urbanisation and frequent migration of population from one place to another… have become a regular trend'. Voters who migrate often 'register themselves at another place without getting their names deleted from the electoral roll of the initial place of residence', which raises the chances of 'repeated entries' in the rolls. The order added that 'thus the situation warrants an intensive verification drive to verify each person before enrolment as an elector.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The EC also cited its constitutional obligation to ensure non-citizens are not enrolled in the electoral roll. It further said it will conduct a special intensive revision for the entire country. Documents for Bihar voter list revision cause chaos Electors in Bihar whose names are not recorded in the 2003 electoral rolls — an estimated 2.93 crore voters — have been asked by the EC to submit at least one of 11 documents establishing their date and place of birth for themselves and their parents, along with an enumeration form. The accepted documents to establish proof of citizenship are a passport, birth certificate, SC/ST certificate, matriculation or educational certificate issued by recognised boards/universities, permanent residence certificate, family register, forest right certificate and land/house allotment certificate by the government. The EC has excluded Aadhaar and PAN as acceptable documents for the exercise. It said that 'Aadhaar is meant for identity of the person, it is not a valid document for the address proof or date of birth.' Since the EC's order last month, the Block Level Officers (BLOs) have been visiting households with existing voters to get pre-filled forms signed and collect additional documents if needed. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Electors whose enumeration forms are not submitted by July 25 will be removed from the voter list. They can contest their deletion from rolls from August 1 to September 1. The draft electoral rolls, which will be released on August 1, will have the names of people whose enumeration forms have been received. The final draft of the voter list will be published in September. As per the Indian Express report, the EC's move has created confusion on the ground, raising fears the exercise will hit the poor and marginalised the most. It has spread unease among different sections of the voters, including upper castes, Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and minorities. '(A domicile certificate is) one of the easiest documents to obtain from the Election Commission's list of 11. There is a large number of upper caste people in the queue here… this unnecessary revision is hurting everyone,' Vibhakar Jha, son of Saurath panchayat mukhiya Kamini Devi in Bihar's Madhubani, told the newspaper. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Voters have also questioned the exclusion of Aadhaar among the eligible documents. 'If Aadhaar, PAN, MNREGS cards don't count among the 11 documents the EC wants for enrolment, why were they issued in the first place,' Mohammed Afsar Ali, a daily wager in Purnia's Dhamdaha, asked. Political row over Bihar electoral roll revision The opposition parties, especially in Bihar, have raised concerns about the EC's exercise, questioning its timing and transparency. Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, called the revision of electoral polls in the state ahead of Assembly elections a 'conspiracy'. 'The last time the routine process of revision of voter list was done was 2003… it has not happened since. And when it happened in 2003, it took about two years to complete,' he said. Yadav added, 'Now elections are to be held in November. Two months are left before the notification process begins. That means the Election Commission has to make a new list… of 8 crore people… in just 25 days. And that too when 73 per cent of the state is affected by floods!' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Congress said that the poll body's announcement was a 'clear and explicit admission… that all is not well with India's electoral rolls'. It said in a statement that the electoral roll revision carried the risk of 'willful exclusion' of voters using state machinery. 'Lakhs of Union and state government officials will now control and dictate who has correct documents and who doesn't, who gets to vote in the upcoming Bihar elections etc. This carries a huge risk of willful exclusion of voters using the power of the state machinery,' the party's committee tasked with monitoring elections said. The opposition has expressed concerns that the exercise can potentially disenfranchise electors. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the EC's move 'more dangerous than NRC [National Register of Citizens]', alleging that her state, which will go to polls next year, was the real 'target'. Amid uncertainty and backlash, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said Sunday (July 6) that the poll panel had 'invited all recognised political parties for interaction' on the matter and 'no one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or the other'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Election Commission also said that the exercise was being organised as per its June 24 order and 'there is no change in the instructions'. The poll panel's clarification came after an advertisement in local newspapers by the office of the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) telling voters that they can submit their enumeration forms now and provide the required documents later. 'After publication of draft Electoral Rolls [on August 1], if any document is deficient, EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) can obtain such documents, from the electors whose name appears in the draft Electoral Rolls, during scrutiny in the Claims and Objection period,' the EC clarified. Supreme Court to hear matter Several petitioners including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, poll watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms, rights body People's Union for Civil Liberties, activist Yogendra Yadav and former MLA Mujahid Alam have moved the Supreme Court against the revision of voter lists ahead of Bihar Assembly elections. Just filed writ petition in Supreme Court challenging @ECISVEEP notification to conduct SIR in Bihar & seeking a stay on conducting the same in other states including Bengal — Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 5, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Supreme Court on Monday (July 7) agreed to hear the batch of petitions against the EC's order on Thursday. Meanwhile, the poll body has indicated that it is currently not considering extending the deadline for the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar. 'More than 1/5th of enumeration forms have come back within two days. At this rate, we might complete the exercise before time, so extension of deadline is not a question at the moment," a top ECI official told CNN-News18. With inputs from agencies
Indian Express
33 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Kolkata law college rape: Bengal govt frames rules for 2022 bill to recruit Group C and D staff in colleges via College Service Commission
In the wake of the recent alleged rape at Kolkata's Law College, in which the main accused is a former Trinamool Congress (TMC) student leader and a casual staffer, the West Bengal government has moved to implement a law — passed in 2022 — to centralise the recruitment of Group C and D staff in government-aided colleges through the West Bengal College Service Commission. Currently, such recruitments are carried out directly by individual college authorities. The Higher Education department had passed a bill in the Assembly in 2022 mandating that all Group C and D staff in government-aided colleges be recruited through the Commission. Despite the bill's passage, rules required for its implementation had not been framed until now. A senior official in the Higher Education department said, 'We have already framed the rules and sent them to the Finance and Law departments. We can only implement them after their approval. It was delayed for these years, but now we are expecting it will be implemented very soon.' Monojit Misra, the main accused in the rape case, is a member of the ruling TMC's student wing and a former president of the college unit. Misra, 31, along with Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20)—both also members of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP)—has been arrested. After graduating, Misra was reportedly appointed as a casual staffer at the same college through the approval of the college governing body, allegedly without proper qualifications. The incident has sparked wider allegations that several TMC-affiliated individuals have secured jobs in various colleges without meeting eligibility criteria. A senior TMC leader said, 'After the rape case, our leadership decided to avoid such controversy on recruitment. If all recruitment will be conducted through the College Service Commission, transparency will be maintained.' He added, 'During the Left Front rule, such questions were raised in Group C and D recruitment in schools. After that, it was decided to recruit Group C and D staff through the Commission.' As per current norms, the Higher Education department determines how many non-teaching staff can be recruited, their pay scales, and eligibility criteria. An official said, 'It is seen that, even after these norms are there, many colleges recruited casual non-teaching staff like Misra. To stop such malpractices, recruitment through the College Service Commission will be established.' Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
Bihar election: SC agrees to hear pleas challenging ECI's voter revision drive on July 10
New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 10 a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) move to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to list the matter on Thursday and allowed the parties to give advance notice of the petitions to the Election Commission of India and serve copies of the petitions. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Shadan Farasat jointly mentioned the matter before the apex court. The advocates told the bench that voters who fail to submit the forms with the specified documents will face the harsh consequence of being deleted from the electoral roll, even if they have voted in elections for the last twenty years. The petitions challenging the ECI decision were filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam. The petitions sought a direction to quash the ECI's June 24 directive, which requires large sections of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the electoral rolls. ADR, in its petition, has submitted that the ECI order imposes fresh documentation requirements and shifts the burden of proof from the state to the citizen. The petition also raised concerns over the exclusion of widely held documents like Aadhaar and ration cards, stating that this would disproportionately affect the poor and marginalised voters, especially in rural Bihar. 'The SIR order, if not set aside, can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution,' the petition submitted. RJD MP said the decision, which has been taken without any consultation with the political parties, is 'being used to justify aggressive and opaque revisions of electoral rolls that disproportionately target Muslim, Dalit and poor migrant communities, as such, they are not random patterns but are engineered exclusions.' (ANI)
