Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its May 27 verdict that upheld the Election Commission’s decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision of Bihar’s electoral roll.
Owaisi has cited new material alleging serious irregularities in the poll panel’s decision-making process and raised questions about whether safeguards governing the revision of electoral rolls were properly implemented.
advertisement
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had upheld the Election Commission’s power to conduct the revision. It said the exercise “breathes life” into the constitutional mandate for fair polls and advances the “constitutional imperative of free-and-fair elections”.
In his petition filed through lawyer Lzafeer Ahmad on Tuesday, Owaisi sought a “recall of the common judgment and final order dated May 27, 2026, passed by this court … and connected matters”.
“The present review petition is necessitated by the subsequent disclosure of material revealing serious irregularities in the commission’s decision-making process, including decisions allegedly taken without the requisite approval of the commission, in violation of section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
“The material also raises serious questions concerning the implementation of the statutory safeguards relied upon by this Hon’ble Court in upholding the SIR,” the plea said.
Owaisi was not a party to the original proceedings. He has sought the court’s permission to file the review petition as an elector, an elected representative and the head of a recognised political party. The president of the party’s Bihar unit had initiated the original proceedings.
The plea referred to a report published in The Indian Express on September 23, which said election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had repeatedly objected to decisions and communications issued in the commission’s name without their knowledge or approval.
The reported objections concerned changes to statutory forms, including Form 6, the issuance of official communications, the management and accessibility of electoral roll databases, and appeals filed in the commission’s name against orders restoring voters to the electoral roll.
Owaisi said the disclosures raised questions about compliance with section 18 of the 2023 law, which governs the conduct of the poll panel’s business and its decision-making procedures.
The petition said the objections were relevant to the legality of the process followed during the revision because the Supreme Court had relied on the commission’s constitutional authority and discretion under the law while upholding the exercise.
It also referred to a case in Goa where, according to the petition, 97 voters found eligible for inclusion by electoral registration officers were reportedly left out of the final electoral roll because the software did not have the facility needed to restore their names.
The review petition said these reported instances raised concerns about the independence of electoral officers, the recording of reasons for deleting names and the effectiveness of safeguards against arbitrary exclusion from electoral rolls.
Owaisi has, therefore, asked the Supreme Court to review and recall its verdict upholding the Bihar electoral roll revision, citing alleged lapses in the Election Commission’s decision-making and the implementation of safeguards for voters.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
