Amidst the political turmoil over SIR, Nirmala Sitharaman bluntly told the opposition, “If you have a complaint, go to court, you can present your side.”

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that opposition parties complaining about the Special Intensive Review (SIR) process can approach the courts to get justice and present their case there. In response to a question regarding the continuous protest by opposition parties against the SIR process and their demand for action from the Chief Electoral Officer, Sitharaman said that the courts have taken cognizance of the complaints received from across the country. The Supreme Court is also included in these.

“People can participate in court proceedings, present their case and get justice through the courts. Many are already doing so,” he said. Sitharaman further said that opposition parties are free to raise the issue through political protests also.

Case of removal of more than 2 crore names in Maharashtra

Let us tell you that The matter regarding SIR in Maharashtra has reached the Supreme Court. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter and issued notice to the Central Government, Election Commission and other parties. Now the next hearing of this case will be on November 5.

According to the petition, names of a large number of voters have been removed from the draft voter list during the process of SIR in Maharashtra. There are a total of about 9.79 crore registered voters in the state. Of these, names of about 2.07 crore voters have been removed from the draft list. According to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra, out of the total 9,78,54,049 registered voters, names of 2,06,88,487 voters were removed. This is about 21.14 percent of the total voters. It was told that these voters were not found at their addresses during the SIR process.

Claim of trouble due to redevelopment in Mumbai-Pune

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the petitioner, told the Supreme Court that due to redevelopment works in Mumbai and Pune, many people had temporarily shifted to other places. Names of such voters were also removed from the list as they were not found at their old addresses during verification. The petition also claimed that names of around 1.22 crore other voters were allegedly removed on the basis of ‘logical inconsistencies’.

What was the demand made in the petition?

Chartered accountant and journalist Arun Anandgiri has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the SIR process in Maharashtra. The petition demands that the SIR process in the state be stopped until the Supreme Court gives its final verdict in this matter. Also, the names of the voters whose names were included in the voter list before revision, should not be removed till the decision of the court.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant has issued notice to the Central Government, Election Commission and other concerned parties on the petition. The bench also includes Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana.

(Input- PTI)

Read this also-

‘Chhote Mian and Bade Mian love infiltrators’, CM Yogi targets Akhilesh and Rahul

Triple murder in broad daylight over parking of car in Lucknow, 3 killed in indiscriminate firing, police caught the accused