Supreme Court to resume SIR hearing today; ECI opposes consideration of Aadhaar, Voter, Ration cards

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi will hear the petitions.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, the ECI opposed the inclusion of Aadhaar cards, Voter ID and Ration cards in the list of documents eligible for the poll body's voter list revision drive.

The EC said the three IDs can't be relied upon as Aadhaar is merely an identity proof, a number of fake Ration Cards are available in the country and considering the existing voter card will make the initiative meaningless.

The ECI has, however, said one's citizenship won't be terminated on the basis of one's name not featuring in the electoral rolls.

The poll body said it did not violate any law or infringe the fundamental rights of citizens by conducting the exercise.

The Supreme Court on July 10 told the ECI that three IDs- Aadhaar, Voter and Ration- must be valid for its controversial voter list verification drive in Bihar.

The top court bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi has questioned the timing of its SIR as the Bihar elections are just months away.

Justice Dhulia noted that individuals who might be excluded from the list after the revision will have no time to appeal against their exclusion before the state elections.

The ECI defended SIR which it claimed must be conducted to maintain the integrity of electoral rolls by including the eligible voters and dropping ineligibles.

The top court has agreed to examine the batch of petitions that have challenged the timing and manner the exercise is being conducted.

Among the petitioners are Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, activist Yogendra Yadav.