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The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the Election Commission of India's (ECI) move to expand the list of documents acceptable as proof of citizenship from seven to eleven for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, makes the process more voter-friendly.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that asking for only one document would be anti-voter, but allowing multiple options benefits electors. "They have expanded the number of documents. It is now 11 instead of seven, by which you can identify yourself as a citizen," noted Justice Bagchi. However, Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi criticised the list and termed it "nothing but a house of cards". He contended that several of the new documents, such as passports, land records, or residents' proof, had negligible coverage in Bihar and emphasised that Aadhaar had the highest reach, but was not being accepted as conclusive proof. The hearing will continue on Thursday on a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel's move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar. The petitions challenging the ECI decision were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam. The petitions sought direction to quash the ECI's June 24 directive that requires large sections of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to remain on the electoral rolls. The petitions 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. (ANI)
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