Trust Deficit Between Poll Body, Political Parties Unfortunate: Supreme Court

The "trust deficit" between the Election Commission and political parties in Bihar is "unfortunate", the Supreme Court said today. The court noted that the poll body will continue to receive objections to the draft voter list beyond the September 1 deadline.

The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing applications seeking an extension of the September 1 deadline to file objections to the draft list.

Appearing for the Election Commission, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said the people of Bihar do not have a problem with the Special Intensive Revision, and only the petitioners see red.

The poll body informed the bench that most applications it has received seek the removal of names from the voter list, and the number of requests for inclusion is much lower.

As the petitioners said that the "lack of transparency" in the exercise is the problem, the Election Commission countered that a "mindset" to "disrupt" is to blame.

The poll body earlier said an extension of the deadline would disrupt the entire schedule of finalising the voter list ahead of polls. It said postponing the deadline will make the review "non-ending exercise".

Justice Kant noted the "unfortunate trust deficit" between the election body and the political parties and said volunteers from the district legal services authority can help in the exercise. 

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms, said the problem is "lack of transparency". Mr Dwivedi replied, "The problem is with the mindset to disrupt."

Noting the the poll body will continue to receive objections, the court said, "Process will continue until 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."

The court's remarks on the "trust deficit" are significant against the political backdrop of Opposition parties accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the ruling BJP to manipulate the voting process. The poll body has trashed these allegations and the BJP has alleged that the Opposition, led by the Congress, is frustrated over its electoral setbacks and is now targeting the poll body.