Supreme Court Grills Election Commission Over Voter List Revision in Bihar Ahead of Polls

On Thursday, the Supreme Court raised serious concerns about the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar just months before the state elections. A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi questioned the timing and process of the revision, warning that such a move “goes to the root of democracy and the power to vote.”

The Court has agreed to hear over ten petitions challenging the SIR, including those filed by opposition leaders and civil society groups. The next hearing is set for July 28, and the ECI has been directed to submit its response by July 21. No interim relief has been granted as yet.

Justice Dhulia criticized the timing of the revision, saying, “If you are checking citizenship now under the SIR, you should have acted earlier—this is a bit late.” The bench also pressed the ECI on why documents like Aadhaar cards, voter IDs, and ration cards are not being accepted for voter verification during the drive.

However, the Court rejected the argument that the Election Commission lacks the authority to conduct such a revision, emphasizing that it is the Commission’s constitutional duty to maintain accurate electoral rolls. The last similar exercise in Bihar was in 2003.

Defending the SIR, the ECI argued that the revision is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the voter list—removing ineligible voters and adding new eligible ones. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the ECI, clarified that Aadhaar cannot be used as proof of citizenship and reaffirmed that only Indian citizens can vote, as stated under Article 326 of the Constitution.

“If the Election Commission doesn't have the power to revise the electoral roll, then who does?” asked senior counsel Dwivedi, while assuring the Court that no voter would be removed without being given a chance to respond.

The justices also questioned the ECI’s decision to leave Aadhaar out of the process, noting that determining citizenship is ultimately the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs, not the ECI.

Among the petitioners challenging the SIR are several prominent opposition leaders, including RJD MP Manoj Jha, TMC’s Mahua Moitra, Congress’ K C Venugopal, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, CPI’s D Raja, SP’s Harinder Singh Malik, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant, JMM’s Sarfraz Ahmed, and CPI (ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, as well as the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms.