Bhushan criticises SIR & Adani land transfer

Patna: Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Saturday criticised the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls ahead of the assembly polls, calling it “flawed, violating its own constitutionally mandated role and lacking transparency.”“As per the way the SIR has been conducted, electors were asked to fill and submit forms, attach documents, and furnish any of the 11 documents to establish citizenship. Most people in the state do not have them,” he said, adding that the EC was working beyond its mandate and even the Supreme Court had to intervene to include Aadhaar as a valid document. Bhushan pointed out that the deletion of 65 lakh names, including 22 lakh dead and eight lakh duplicate electors, disproportionately affected the poor and women.“There have been cases of alive electors declared dead. The exercise has not only been flawed but also lacked transparency,” he said.Bhushan also termed the transfer of 1,050 acres of fertile land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur, to industrialist Gautam Adani for a thermal power plant as “corruption.” “The land transfer on fertile soil and the power purchase at Rs 6.75 per unit cannot be justified under any law. The state is expected to suffer an annual loss of around Rs 5,000 crore,” he said, also questioning pre-election announcements of monetary benefits as “bribery to the voters.” He criticised the violation of land acquisition norms, environmental risks, and inadequate compensation, describing the entire exercise as benefiting private players at the cost of public interest.