Supreme Court's posers for ECI over Bihar poll exercise

THE Supreme Court has allowed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to continue with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, but it has asked the poll panel a very pertinent question: Why now? The court has rightly observed that the timing of the exercise — just months before the Assembly elections — has led to doubts and apprehensions. The onus is on the ECI to explain why the process was not initiated much earlier, which would have given around 7.9 crore voters of the state ample time to get their credentials verified. If, indeed, no voter is to be left behind, then the documentation has to be reasonable and hassle-free. The petitioners, including several Opposition leaders, claim that the paperwork rigmarole could disenfranchise many genuine voters. That’s an area of concern that the poll panel has to address on priority.