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The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Bihar State Legal Service Authority (BSLSA) to issue directions to its district-level body for assisting voters excluded from the final electoral rolls after the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in filing appeals with the Election Commission of India (ECI).
To ensure free legal aid to the persons excluded from the final voters' list to file appeals against their exclusion, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, BSLSA, is to issue necessary communication to the District Legal Services Authorities to ensure the availability of paralegal volunteers and legal aid counsels who can assist the excluded persons in filing appeals. The bench passed the order after noting that there were discrepancies in the affidavits submitted before the top court by certain individuals who claimed that they had been incorrectly excluded. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for ECI, disputed the veracity of the contents of the affidavit submitted by one particular individual. Dwivedi raised an instance raised by the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) regarding a person whose name was included in the draft list getting deleted from the final list. He refuted the claim, saying the person was not there in the draft list as he did not submit the enumeration form, and added that a false affidavit had been filed, which amounts to perjury. He said excluded people can file appeals, as there is still a window of five days available for them. The bench expressed displeasure and told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for ADR, that when a document was handed to the court, there should have been more responsibility. The apex court also heard arguments of political activist Yogendra Yadav and posted the case for hearing on October 16. The apex court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel's move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar. (ANI)
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