SC to hear on Jul 28 pleas challenging EC's decision to revise Bihar electoral rolls

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission's decision to undertake a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi is likely to take up the matter in which the EC has justified its ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it adds to the purity of the election by "weeding out ineligible persons" from the electoral rolls.

The poll panel, while justifying its June 24 decision directing the SIR, has said all major political parties were "involved" in the exercise and deployed more than 1.5 lakh booth-level agents to reach out to eligible voters, but are opposing it in the apex court.

The SIR adds to the purity of elections by weeding out ineligible persons from the electoral rolls, the ECI has said in a detailed affidavit filed to counter the allegations of petitioners, which include several political leaders, civil society members and organisations.

"The entitlement to vote flows from Article 326 read with Sections 16 and 19 of the RP Act 1950 and Section 62 of the RP Act 1951, which contains certain qualifications with respect to citizenship, age, and ordinary residency. An ineligible person has no right to vote, and thus, cannot claim a violation of Articles 19 and 21 in this regard," it said.

Meanwhile, in a rejoinder affidavit, the NGO 'Association for Democratic Reforms', the lead petition in the case, has claimed that the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are vested with broad and unchecked discretion that could result in disenfranchisement of a significant segment of Bihar's population.

"The petition submits that the SIR order dated June 24, 2025, if not set aside, can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of citizens from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution," the NGO said.

It said the exclusion of Aadhaar and ration cards from the list of acceptable documents in the SIR of Bihar's electoral rolls is patently absurd and that the EC has given no valid reason for its decision.

The NGO further claimed that the SIR is being conducted in such a manner that constitutes a grave fraud on voters and the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are being found signing enumeration forms themselves and those dead are shown to have filled up forms, and those who hadn't filled up forms getting a message that their forms had been completed.

"...Reports from the ground in Bihar, enumeration forms are being mass-uploaded by BLOs without the knowledge or consent of the voters, in order to achieve the unrealistic target set by the ECI. Many voters have reported that their forms have been submitted online, despite never having met with any BLOs or signed any documents. Forms of even dead individuals have been reported to have been submitted," it said.

The NGO further said the poll panel's contention that the SIR is being conducted as a means to address concerns of political parties must be outright rejected, as not a single political party had asked the EC for a de novo exercise such as the one prescribed in the instant SIR order.

"The concerns of political parties were on the issue of the addition of non-existent votes and the deletion of genuine votes supporting the opposition parties, and on the issue of casting of votes after closure of polls. It is to be noted that none of the political parties asked for a de novo revision of the electoral roll," it said.

The NGO said the SIR initiated by the EC is being conducted in a manner that constitutes a grave fraud on the voters of Bihar, and must be set aside.

"This fraudulent exercise, conducted under the guise of electoral integrity, violates principles of due process and natural justice, as enshrined under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution," it said.

RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, who is also a petitioner challenging the SIR, said in his rejoinder affidavit filed through advocate Fauzia Shakil that reports have pointed out instances where voters have complained that BLOs have not visited their house or neighbourhood and were found forging voters' signatures on forms and uploading them.

"The present exercise is unprecedented inasmuch as for the first time a person is being asked to furnish documentary proof of his citizenship to the satisfaction of the Election Commission to be enrolled as a voter and exercise his constitutional right to vote.

"As is evident from a bare perusal of Form 6, the application form for a new voter, and documents for proof of date of birth and documents for proof of residence were required to be furnished along with only a declaration that a person is a citizen of India," Jha said.

Activist Yogendra Singh Yadav, in his rejoinder, said approximately 40 lakh electors face the prospect of deletion from the electoral rolls in the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar.

On July 10, a vacation bench headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the EC to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID and ration cards as valid documents and permitted the poll panel to continue with the exercise in Bihar with over 7 crore voters.