Supreme Court reserves verdict on pleas against SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas including the one filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi concluded the final hearing after a battery of lawyers including Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Prashant Bhushan and Gopal Sankaranarayan argued in the matter.

The poll panel was represented by senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Maninder Singh.

The bench heard rejoinder submissions on behalf of the petitioners before reserving the verdict.

The court had commenced final arguments in the matter on August 12 last year, when it observed that inclusion or exclusion of names in electoral rolls falls within the constitutional remit of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The ECI has defended the SIR exercise, maintaining that Aadhaar and voter identity cards cannot be treated as conclusive proof of citizenship.