The Supreme Court of India on August 22 directed that 65 lakh voters whose names have been deleted from the draft rolls in Bihar as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) can apply online for registration with Aadhaar card or any of the 11 documents listed by the Election Commission.
“We will allow online submission of claims of deleted voters with Aadhaar card or any other acceptable documents for Bihar SIR,” the bench said, as quoted by PTI.
“All the political parties shall file the status report by the next date of hearing on the claim form they had facilitated in filing by excluded voters,” the bench added. The matter has been posted for hearing on September 8.
During the hearing, the Election Commission informed the court that while 85,000 new voters had been added in the ongoing revision, only two objections had been filed by booth-level agents of political parties.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi resumed hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR exercise. The petitions were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.
The Court also expressed surprise that although there are about 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents of political parties, only two objections have come from them. However, some parties submitted that the officers were not acknowledging the objections given by the BLAs..
Addressing the concerns raised by some petitioners that the Booth Level Officers were not issuing acknowledgement receipts to the objections submitted by the Booth Level Agents, the Court directed the BLOs to acknowledge the receipt wherever physical forms are submitted.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the Election Commission of India, told the Court that a compliance affidavit has been filed stating that the lists containing the names of voters excluded from the draft roll, including the reasons of exclusions, have been published on the websites and polling booths as directed by the Court on August 14. He added that the lists have been shared with the Booth Level Agents of the political parties as well.
Dwivedi asserted that “no political party has filed a single objection (to deletion) till date.” When Dwivedi said that no political party has come before the Court, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Dr AM Singhvi countered. Sibal said that he was representing the RJD MP Manoj Jha from the main opposition party in Bihar. Singhvi said that he was appearing in a petition jointly filed by the representatives INC, CPI(M), CPI(M-L) Liberation, CPI, NCP etc.
Dwivedi submitted that over 2 lakh forms have been filed by new voters for inclusion in the list. None of the 12 recognised political parties in the State have given any objections. “They are only whipping up fear for their political interests,” he said.
“It is the duty of the political parties to come forward and assist the Election Commission in completing this exercise. But they are not coopearting,” Dwivedi said.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the Association for Democratic Reforms, said that many persons are working as migrant workers outside the State and they may not be able to file forms. Also, all political parties do not have Booth Level Agents in all constituencies. “Biggest opposition party is RJD. They have BLAs in only half of constituencies…” Bhushan said.
The bench then suggested that it can order that any voter can submit forms for inclusion online along with their Aadhaar cards.
“Let them submit their application forms, be it with Aadhaar card or matriculation certificates,” Justice Kant said. Dwivedi suggested waiting for some more time to see how many more people are submitting forms. “Crores are filing documents, all bogus stories being [circulated]. Please wait for some time…repose some trust in EC,” he said.
On August 14, Election Commission uploaded details of 65 lakh deleted voters from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls on district magistrates’ websites, following a Supreme Court order.
Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the move was made “within 56 hours of the top court directive” to ensure transparency. He explained that Electoral Registration Officers and Booth Level Officers bear responsibility for the accuracy of rolls, which are shared digitally and physically with parties and the public. Draft rolls in Bihar, published on August 1, remain open for claims and objections until September 1.
Defending the exercise, Kumar said it was a “matter of grave concern” that some parties were spreading “misinformation”, stressing that India’s election system is a “multi-layered, decentralised construct as envisaged by law.”
During the previous hearing, the Supreme Court said it could set aside the results of the special intensive revision if illegality was proven.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for RJD MP Manoj Jha, argued the exclusion of 65 lakh voters was unlawful, while Prashant Bhushan accused the EC of making the rolls non-searchable. The court countered claims about lack of documents, saying “everybody possesses some certificate.” The hearing will continue, with the final rolls due on September 30.
Congress Party reaction
The Congress Party welcomed the latest Supreme Court directive on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, claiming “democracy has survived a brutal assault from the Election Commission of India (ECI)“.
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, said that the poll body stands “totally exposed and discredited”. He said the Supreme Court has laid down guardrails to make the revision more inclusive by including political parties in the process.
“The INC welcomes today’s verdict of the Supreme Court on the Bihar SIR issue. Democracy has survived a brutal assault from the Election Commission of India (ECI),” Mr. Ramesh said.
