SC notices 'trust deficit' between ECI, political parties; extends deadline to file objections to draft list

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that the deficit of trust between the Election Commission of India and political parties in Bihar is 'unfortunate'.

The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing applications that sought an extension of the September 1 deadline to file objections to the draft list. The bench noted that the ECI will continue to receive objections to the draft voter list beyond the deadline.

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Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, on behalf of ECI, said the people of Bihar have no problem with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and only the petitioners are objecting to it. Also, the poll body informed the apex court that most of the applications sent to the ECI seek to remove their names from the voter list. However, applications seeking inclusion of names are much lower.

While the petitions said that the SIR exercise does not have any transparency, the ECI replied that the blame lies on a 'mindset to disrupt'.

Earlier, the ECI argued that extending the deadline would hamper the entire schedule of finalising the voter list before the Assembly elections in Bihar this year and said the postponement of the deadline will make SIR "a non-ending exercise".

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Justice Kant observed there is an "unfortunate trust deficit" between the political parties and ECI. He also said that the district legal services authority's volunteers can help the poll body in the SIR exercise. Advocate Prashant Bhushan said on behalf of the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms that there is no transparency in the exercise, to which Dwivedi replied, "The problem is with the mindset to disrupt."

The apex court said, "Process will continue until the last date of nominations and all inclusions/exclusions are integrated in the final roll. In light of this stand, let the claims/objections/corrections be continued to be filed."