Bihar SIR Dispute: Supreme Court Seeks Election Commission’s Clarification On Removal Of 65 Lakh Voters
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to furnish a detailed reply to a petition questioning the removal of over 65 lakh voters from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls. The petition was submitted by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which has voiced concerns regarding the transparency and fairness of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) process ahead of the forthcoming state assembly elections.
A bench led by Justice Surya Kant asked the ECI to file its response by August 9, clearly outlining the grounds for each deletion—such as death, permanent migration, or duplicate entries. Earlier, the ECI had issued a draft electoral roll containing 7.24 crore voters, from which more than 65 lakh names were removed. The Commission had cited reasons like 22.34 lakh deletions due to death and 36.28 lakh due to permanent migration or absence.
However, the ADR, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, argued that even though some political parties were given lists of deleted voters, those lists did not include specific details, thereby making independent verification challenging.
In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court had advised the Election Commission to prioritise “mass inclusion” instead of “mass exclusion”, highlighting the vital importance of every citizen’s right to vote. The court’s direction for detailed, booth-wise data disclosure is intended to enable thorough cross-verification by political parties and the general public during the claims and objections window, which remains open until September 1.
Several opposition parties have expressed apprehensions that the revision exercise may wrongfully disenfranchise numerous eligible voters, particularly from marginalised groups. The matter will be taken up for the next hearing on August 12.
