DMK Writes to Chief Election Officer on ‘Anomalies’ in SIR
Such informal and additional conditions were likely to discourage vulnerable electors, resulting in wrongful deletion or non-inclusion of genuine voters in the rolls, it said.
Chennai: Raising concerns over a slew of anomalies in the manner in which the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was being carried out, the DMK party urged the Election commission of India (ECI) to discontinue the practice of demanding additional documents and personal appearance from electors under the ‘no-mapping’ Aadhaar category in Tamil Nadu.
In a representation to the Chief Election Officer on Wednesday, DMK Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi requested permission for allowing the presence and assistance of representatives or legal counsel during the inquiry proceedings and for furnishing booth-wide lists of electors who have been issued notices under the ‘no-mapping category.
The representation, submitted through DMK Legal Wing secretary N R Elango, wanted the accurate recording of forms submitted by the recognized political parties and the ensuring of uniformity in forms and procedures concerning the correction of legal discrepancies.
Demanding the acceptance of Aadhaar as sufficient proof without the need for additional documents, the DMK said that some Electoral Registration Officer (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) were insisting on production of additional documents despite the Supreme Court and ECI clarifying that Aadhaar constitute valid proof of identity.
The representation said that the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, contemplated only a summary inquiry and did not authorize EROs to create or impose additional documentary requirements beyond those recognized under the Representation of People Act, 1950, and the ECI instructions.
Such informal and additional conditions were likely to discourage vulnerable electors, resulting in wrongful deletion or non-inclusion of genuine voters in the rolls, it said.
Alleging that some EROs were insisting on electors appearing before them for enquiry without any assistance, the DMK quoted relevant provisions of the rules and said that EROs were obligated to hear any person who was likely to be of assistance in the enquiry and that denial of legal assistance deprived the electors of their fundamental rights.
The DMK said that while the Election Commission of India had notified that notices were to be issued to 12,43,363 electors, their particulars had not been made available to the recognized political parties leaving the Booth Level Agents (BLAs) unable to render meaningful assistance.
Another demand was to accurately record the forms submitted by BLAs through Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and at the special camps and report them under the name of the respective political parties.
The DMK also wanted appropriate directions to DEOs and EROs to follow uniform procedure throughout the State on issuing notices to voters and in the conduct of enquiries.