Election Commission refuses to provide 2003 Bihar SIR order on RTI query

New Delhi: The Election Commission has refused to provide a copy of the order of an Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 2003 as well as the poll body’s study or analysis which it based to decide on holding the exercise in Bihar this year sought under the Right to Information Act.

Transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj filed two separate RTIs with the Election Commission seeking copies of the 2003 order as well as the study or analysis based on which the EC decided to hold the SIR.

The EC in both the responses shared the link of the poll body's 2025 SIR order.

Bhardwaj said the orders and guidelines of the 2003 Intensive Revision in Bihar are not available on the EC website and nor have they been of any of the affidavits filed by the EC in the Supreme Court. Copies of the orders and guidelines of the 2003 intensive revision would have shed light on whether EC had sought documents to verify citizenship of voters in 2003, she said.

In the first RTI, Bhardwaj asked a copy of any independent appraisal or study or analysis undertaken based on which the EC decided to initiate a SIR across the country in 2025 was sought as well as a copy of all the files, including notings, correspondence and records which are part of the file) related to the exercise.

To this, the EC responded asking Bhardwaj to refer to the EC's guideline dated June 24, which it said is "self-explanatory and available" on its website besides providing the link. "Further, no any (sic) information is available in the Commission," it said.

In the second RTI application, she sought a copy of the order or the notification through which an Intensive Revision of electoral rolls was carried out for Bihar in 2003. She also sought a copy of the guidelines issued for the Intensive Revision in 2003 which specify the manner and procedure of revisions, the prescribed forms and list of documents required to be furnished among others.

The EC did not provide the details sought under RTI and again provided the June 24 order. 

"No information has been provided by the EC about the Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls carried out for Bihar in 2003. The orders and guidelines of the 2003 exercise are important as the EC has provided a special exemption to those who feature in the 2003 electoral roll -- that they need not provide any proof of eligibility," Bhardwaj said.