SC raps political parties over Bihar SIR row

• SC criticizes parties' inaction on voter roll corrections in Bihar SIR.
• ECI allows online submission for deleted voters with ID proof in Bihar SIR.
• Petitions challenge ECI's citizenship proof directive for Bihar voters.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today expressed surprised over political parties "inaction" in not coming forward with correction of names of deleted voters

in Bihar SIR. The top court made the remarks after the Election Commission informed the bench that while 85,000 new voters had been added in the ongoing revision, only two objections had been filed by booth-level agents of political parties. "We will allow online submission of claims of deleted voters with Aadhaar card or any other acceptable documents for Bihar SIR," the bench said. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi made the remarks while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR exercise. The petitions were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam. The petitioners have sought to quash the ECI’s June 24 directive, which requires large numbers of voters in Bihar to submit proof of citizenship to stay on the rolls.