Will Intervene If Bihar SIR Process Leads To Voter Ouster: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would not hesitate to intervene if the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar results in mass voter exclusion.

The oral observation was made by a Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi. It came during a hearing on petitions challenging the ECI’s directive for SIR issued on 26 June.

Petitioners argued that the process could lead to the arbitrary removal of lakhs of voters without due process, undermining free and fair elections.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, cited the ECI’s own statement. He said that 65 lakh individuals had not submitted the required enumeration forms. Many of them were either deceased or had permanently relocated.

Justice Kant assured the petitioners that the court was monitoring the situation closely.

“We are here, we will hear your concerns. We are overviewing the matter as a judicial authority. If there is mass exclusion, we will immediately step in,” he said.

The Bench scheduled the next hearing for 12 and 13 August.

The court underlined that the ECI, as a constitutional authority, is expected to act within the framework of law and the Constitution.

Aadhaar and EPIC Should Be Prioritised

A day earlier, the Bench had declined to stay the publication of the draft electoral rolls. However, it urged the ECI to give weight to Aadhaar and Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) during voter verification.

When ECI counsel, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, raised doubts about the authenticity of certain documents, particularly ration cards.

In response, the court noted, “As far as ration cards are concerned, we can say they can be forged easily, but Aadhaar and voter cards have some sanctity and have a presumption of genuineness. You proceed with these two documents (Aadhaar and EPIC). Wherever you find forgery, that’s on a case-to-case basis.”

According to the ECI’s SIR schedule, voters who submitted enumeration forms will be included. This includes forms submitted with or without documents. These names will appear in the draft roll to be published on 1 August.

Those not listed will have until 1 September to submit claims for inclusion by providing a prescribed form and declaration.

In its affidavit to the court, the ECI stated, “Therefore, any person excluded from the draft roll has another opportunity to be included by submitting the form with the necessary declaration and documents.”

“This claims period will remain open for 31 days following the publication of the draft roll, i.e., until September 1, 2025,” it added.

The Commission further clarified that the final roll will be published on 30 September.</p>

Even after that, eligible voters can still be enrolled up to the last date for filing nominations for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elec

tions.

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