A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, also directed that the documents, mentioned in para 3(iii) of its February 24 order, which have not been uploaded so far and were received on or before February 14, shall be submitted or handed over to the presiding judicial officers by the concerned Electoral Register Officers/Assistant Electoral Register Officers by Thursday 5pm.
The clarification was issued by a three-member bench headed by CJI Kant after the counsel for Election Commission of India (ECI) mentioned the matter on Wednesday morning. The ECI counsel sought certain clarifications with respect to Tuesday’s order, which deployed judicial officers to adjudicate claims and objections in the SIR process. He sought clarification that the EROs/AEROs can handover the documents which they received before the cut-off date but which may have been omitted to be uploaded due to inadvertence.
The ECI counsel sought further clarification regarding the use of Madhyamik cards, which were allowed as per the January 19 order. He submitted that they be accepted only for age determination. Justice Bagchi, however, submitted that Madhyamik card also has the father’s name as well.
In its January order, the SC had directed that admit cards “apart from” pass certificates be accepted since the pass certificate does not mention the date of birth of the individual.
On Wednesday, the ECI counsel sought clarification that the admit card, like Aadhaar, should be treated only as a “supplementary” documentation for verifying the date of birth of a candidate. The SC accordingly ordered that admit card be treated as supplementary documentation “along with” pass certificate for the said purpose.
Speaking for the bench, Justice Joymalya Bagchi verbally remarked, “I can personally assure you that the judges in Bengal are aware of the data on the Madhyamik card, because unlike the Bihar pass certificate, in West Bengal, the date of birth and parentage details are there in the Madhyamik card. That is why we said it will help the ECI and anyone verifying the document. Pass certificate does not give date of birth or father’s name”. The ECI counsel replied “but it cannot be the standalone document”.
The bench pointed out that it has already indicated that the admit card will only be a supplementary document and not a standalone measure of verifying the holder’s identity.
