Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill to link electoral roll data with Aadhaar eco system amid opposition uproar over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence issue.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021, piloted by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, was passed by a voice vote after a brief discussion during which some opposition members demanded that it be referred to a parliamentary panel.
Rejecting the demand, Rijiju said various proposals which are part of the bill have already been suggested and recommended by the Standing Committee of Law and Personnel.
The minister further said that the bill will cleanse the election system.
Lok Sabha was later adjourned for the day amid continuous protest by opposition members.
Earlier in the day, Rijiju said the legislation will end bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process more credible.
The bill seeks to allow electoral registration officers seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters “for the purpose of establishing the identity”.
Dismissing the apprehensions of the opposition on the bill as “baseless”, the minister said opposition members were “misinterpreting” the Supreme Court judgement on personal liberty.
“The opposition has not understood the objectives of the bill. This will make the election process more credible,” he said.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021, piloted by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, was passed by a voice vote after a brief discussion during which some opposition members demanded that it be referred to a parliamentary panel.
Rejecting the demand, Rijiju said various proposals which are part of the bill have already been suggested and recommended by the Standing Committee of Law and Personnel.
The minister further said that the bill will cleanse the election system.
Lok Sabha was later adjourned for the day amid continuous protest by opposition members.
Earlier in the day, Rijiju said the legislation will end bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process more credible.
The bill seeks to allow electoral registration officers seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters “for the purpose of establishing the identity”.
Dismissing the apprehensions of the opposition on the bill as “baseless”, the minister said opposition members were “misinterpreting” the Supreme Court judgement on personal liberty.
“The opposition has not understood the objectives of the bill. This will make the election process more credible,” he said..
Infringement of fundamental rights
Opposing the bill, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded that the bill must be sent to the standing committee concerned for scrutiny.
He claimed that the bill will curb the people’s personal liberty.
“We don’t have the data protection laws. You can’t bulldoze such a bill on people,” he said.
Chowdhury’s party colleague Manish Tewari said voting is a legal right and it is beyond the legislative competence of the Aadhaar Act to be linked with the electoral laws.
Tiwari also claimed that the bill violates the Supreme Court judgement on Justice (retd) K S Puttaswamy case.
On August 24, 2017, a nine judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous verdict in the Justice (retd) K S Puttaswamy case affirming that the Constitution guarantees to each individual a fundamental right to privacy.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the bill will suppress people’s right to exercise franchise freely.
Opposing the bill, Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy said the bill goes against the apex court judgement.
BSP’s Ritesh Pandey opposed the bill, and said that it will curb the rights of the SCs and STs in exercising the franchise freely.
RSP’s N K Premchandran said the right of privacy is a fundamental right and linking the Aadhaar with the election process will infringe on the rights of the citizens.
Congress member Shashi Tharoor said Aadhaar is meant for the residents of India and all residents are not Indians.
“By linking the Aadhaar with the electoral process, we are potentially giving the voting rights to non-citizens,” he said.
Lakhimpur Kheri incident
Congress and the TMC members were demanding sacking of Union Minister for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence as his son Ashish Mishra is one of the accused arrested in the case.
Election Laws (Amendment) Bill
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill also seeks to allow the electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar number from “persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in electoral roll, and to identify registration of name of the same person in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency”.
At the same time, the amendment bill makes it clear that “no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed”.
Such people will be allowed to furnish other documents as may be prescribed.
According to the bill circulated to Lok Sabha members ahead of its introduction, various sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951 will be amended.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill states that Section 23 of the RP Act, 1950 will be amended to allow linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem “to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places”.
Amendment to section 14 of the RP Act, 1950 will allow to have four “qualifying” dates for eligible people to register as voters.