NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission to file its response over the basis on which persons are being issued notices under the “logical discrepancies” category during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Delhi.A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya bagchi and Justice V Mohana specifically questioned the manner in which the poll panel was generating and communicating the notices.Justice Bagchi asked EC to examine whether notices were being issued mechanically and whether voters were being adequately informed about the reason for the notice. The CJI also asked the poll panel to clarify the meaning and operation of the “logical discrepancy” category.“You need to clarify logical discrepancy a little”, the CJI said.This comes after advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, told the apex court that the problem was not merely the number of notices but the lack of clarity about what voters were being asked to establish.
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He said voters receiving notices were being asked to appear with documents even when the notice did not provide enough information to understand the discrepancy attributed to them.Bhushan also argued that many ordinary voters may have limited documentary records and said Aadhaar was often the principal document available to them containing their basic details. He questioned why a voter who had submitted an enumeration form and produced proof of age and residence should be required to establish additional facts.Meanwhile, advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the EC, submitted that every notice contained a reason and said the issue was not as serious as suggested by the petitioners. The poll panel also informed the top court that the 12 documents referred to in the verification process were not exhaustive.As per the petitioners, the draft electoral roll in Delhi excluded around 47 lakh names, while notices were issued to around 33 lakh other voters whose names remained in the draft roll.
