The Supreme Court has permitted the use of the 'logical discrepancy' category during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, but its legality is yet to be decided. The decision follows notices issued by the Election Commission to crores of voters across India.
The Supreme Court has reportedly allowed the use of the 'logical discrepancy' category in West Bengal as an interim arrangement during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. This decision comes after the Election Commission issued notices to crores of voters nationwide, asking them to explain inconsistencies such as mismatches in parents' names, unreasonable age gaps, and instances of parents having more than six children. The court clarified that its May 27 judgement upholding the legality of the special intensive revision during the first phase of the exercise in Bihar does not constitute a binding precedent.
On Wednesday, a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant was hearing petitions alleging a lack of transparency in the issuing of notices to voters in Delhi during the ongoing special intensive revision. Of the 97.5 lakh voters included in the draft electoral roll, 33.1 lakh were issued notices, or about one-third of the total.
In West Bengal, the Election Commission had initially not undertaken logical discrepancy as a category during the special intensive revision, Live Law reported. However, in Bihar, the commission had used this category during the first phase of the exercise, and the Supreme Court upheld its legality on May 27. Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that 'Bihar is not a final determination of every question arising in these proceedings.'
Notable individuals, including the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, have also received notices during the revision process.
Source:
Scroll.in
