Supreme Court orders ECI to publish list of 65 lakh deleted voters in Bihar SIR, disclose reasons for non-inclusion
The procedure has to be fair since it has the consequence of disenfranchising a voter, the Court stressed.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make available online the list of 6.5 million voters that are proposed for deletion during the current Special Intensive Revision (SRI) in Bihar.
Supreme Court hears Bihar electoral roll revision case: LIVE UPDATES
The Court is currently reviewing a series of petitions that contest the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a series of petitions that contest the Election Commission of India’s directive issued on June 24 for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar.
A Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi is presiding over the case.
The petitioners have expressed worries that the SIR process allows for the arbitrary removal of voters without sufficient protections, which could disenfranchise millions of citizens and compromise the integrity of free and fair elections.
The Election Commission has justified its directive, claiming that it possesses the authority to conduct such an exercise as per Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
It has argued that the revision is essential due to urban migration, demographic changes, and persistent issues regarding the accuracy of the current rolls, which have not undergone thorough revision in almost two decades.
Furthermore, the Commission has indicated that the SIR is vital to guarantee that only qualified citizens are included in the electoral rolls prior to the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
One of the matters currently under consideration by the Court involves the compilation of documents that the Election Commission may accept to authenticate the identity of voters for the purpose of maintaining their names on the electoral list.
On July 10, the Supreme Court encouraged the Election Commission to recognize Aadhaar, ration cards, and electoral photo identity cards (EPIC cards) as valid documents for this verification process.
However, the Commission subsequently filed an affidavit indicating that neither Aadhaar cards nor ration cards can be regarded as valid proof of voting eligibility.
The petitioners have contested the exclusion of these documents, deeming it unreasonable.
The petitioners consist of opposition leaders from different States, along with organizations like the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, and the National Federation for Indian Women.
Recently, the ADR submitted an interim application requesting the Court to instruct the ECI to reveal information regarding 65 lakh names that were recently removed from a Bihar electoral roll published on August 1 as part of the SIR.
In response, the ECI indicated that there is no legal obligation for it to provide reasons for publishing a separate list of excluded voters.
It was, however, stated that no individual’s name will be removed from Bihar’s draft electoral roll without prior notification, an opportunity to present their case, and a reasoned decision from the appropriate authority.
On Tuesday, the Court made an oral observation that the process of including and excluding both citizens and non-citizens from the electoral rolls is under the jurisdiction of the ECI. The Court also commented that the ECI was correct in asserting that an Aadhaar card does not serve as definitive evidence of citizenship.
During yesterday’s hearing, the Court acknowledged that the ECI’s choice to accept additional documents for verifying a person’s identity for inclusion in the electoral rolls seemed to be favorable to voters.
Live updates from the hearing today feature here.
Court dictates interim order.
Order: We have received a brief update from the Election Commission of India. During the hearing, the following measures have been agreed upon: As an interim measure, the ECI will implement the following steps:
A list of 65 lakh voters whose names were included in the 2025 list but are absent from the draft list will be made available on the websites of the respective districts.
This information will be posted on the website of each district electoral officer. Additionally, the reasons for the exclusion from the draft roll will also be provided. Extensive publicity will be conducted in vernacular newspapers with the highest circulation, and it must be broadcasted and telecasted on Doordarshan and other media channels. If the District Election Officer has a social media presence, the notice will also be shared there.
