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Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India to ensure transparency in verifying discrepancies affecting 1.16 crore voters in Tamil Nadu, emphasising the importance of public access to information and the need for adequate personnel during the electoral revision process.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure transparency in the verification of the 'logical discrepancy' list published during the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, legal news website LiveLaw reported.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that approximately 1.16 crores persons included in the draft voter roll have been served with notices by officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI), citing logical discrepancies and seeking verification.
The bench, LiveLaw said, applied the order passed last week, in relation to the West Bengal SIR, to Tamil Nadu.
The key directions to the poll panel, according to LiveLaw, are: The names of the persons figured in the category of logical discrepancies may be displayed at the gram panchayat bhavan, public places in the taluk. Persons under the category of logical discrepancy are permitted to submit their documents/objections in person or through an authorised representative within a period of 10 days.
The list of persons following in the logical discussion category will include a brief explanation of the discrepancy, as per the directives. The Court also directed the ECI and state election commissions to provide adequate manpower for the deployment of personnel at BLOs or sub-divisional level offices.
The district collector must meticulously follow the instructions issued by the Election Commissioner of India for deploying adequate staff to ensure the smooth functioning of the SIR process.
The superintendent of police of all districts is also directed to ensure that there is no law and order problem at the above-mentioned locations, LiveLaw reported.
The Court also observed that it expected the ECI to follow the same procedure in other States as well, where SIR is underway.
The order was passed in an application filed by DMK Secretary RS Bharathi. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for the petitioner. Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu appeared for the Election Commission. Tamil Nadu Additional Advocate General Amit Anand Tiwari represented the State.
(With inputs from LiveLaw)
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