SIR: EC Extends Schedule in Some States and UTs; Supreme Court Asks for Kerala Deleted Names to be Published
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India has extended the schedule for the ongoing 'special intensive revision' or SIR of electoral rolls in Goa, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Puducherry and West Bengal up to January 19.
Electors can file claims and objections till the 19th of this month.
In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of these states and Union Territories, the ECI said that the revised schedule has been decided after considering the requests from respective CEOs and other relevant factors.
The ECI has also directed CEOs to ensure wide publicity about the extension in the period of filing claims and objections.
Kerala
On the same day, the Supreme Court directed the ECI to extend the time – preferably by two weeks – in Kerala for filing objections.
Kerala is not one of the states included in the 'extension' notice issued by the poll body and the last date for Kerala residents to submit objections is January 22.
The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also asked the ECI to publicly display the names of voters removed from the draft electoral roll in Kerala after the SIR process. The bench also had Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The apex court heard petitioners who pointed out that nearly 24 lakh people have been deleted from the draft roll, and the fact that the list had not been made public created confusion.
"The persons who have been excluded from the draft electoral list, if not already displayed, will display on the offices of the gram panchayat or any other public office located in the villages and display such list on the website," the bench said, according to LiveLaw.
The bench also said, "Having regard to the difficulty being experienced by the people at large, the ECI may consider the desirability of extending the date."
Bengal Class 10 board exam identity cards
The Election Commission has meanwhile turned down a proposal to include admit cards issued by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education for the Class 10 or Madhyamik exams in the list of documents for SIR verification.
The Madhyamik admit card includes a candidate’s father’s name, school details and their date of birth. In Bengal, its use is popular as the first credible identity document for those without a birth certificate.
Permissible documents that the EC is accepting at SIR hearings include identity card issued to a central or state government employee or pension holder, documents issued by post offices, banks, LIC or any local authority before 1987, birth certificate, passport, residential certificate issued by a state government authority, forest rights certificate, caste certificate, family register maintained by local administration and government-issued land or house allotment certificate.
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