Supreme Court rejects PIL against alleged D (doubtful) Voter harassment

GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has rejected a PIL against the alleged harassment to D (doubtful) voters in Assam, virtually rejecting the allegations outright.

The United Forum of Assam, an NGO, filed a PIL (1077/2018) in the apex court alleging that genuine Indians are being harassed in Assam by branding them as D voters, some valid documents are being rejected by the authority during the ongoing NRC update in the State and casting doubt over the role of foreigners tribunals. The PIL sought intervention from the apex court on the three issues.

However, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice KM Joseph and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul rejected the PIL saying it has no admissibility from the legal point of view. The rejection of the PIL on Monday after two hearings has virtually proved that the numerous allegations against the State administration – that it has been harassing genuine Indians by branding them D voters – have all along been resting on shaky grounds.

The allegations of harassment to D voters have all along been a pet issue for a section of political parties and organizations in Assam.

Keeping the alleged harassment to D voters in mind, the State Government formed a three-layer committee to check the alleged menace on September 26, 2007. The three layers of the committee were the State layer headed by the Chief Secretary, district layers headed by deputy commissioners, and circle layers headed by circle officers. The system continued for a few months only to face its natural demise. It has, however, made its presence felt in office files alone.