New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday flagged a “trust issue” over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and urged political parties to “activate themselves” to restore voter confidence. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi made the observation while hearing pleas seeking an extension of the September 1 deadline for filing claims and objections to the draft rolls. The court noted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had assured that claims and objections submitted after the deadline would still be considered after the publication of the final rolls.
To address concerns over the process, the court directed the Bihar Legal Services Authority to deploy para-legal volunteers to assist voters in filing claims, objections, and corrections both online and offline. These volunteers will submit confidential reports to district judges, which will be reviewed in the next hearing scheduled for September 8. The court said these steps were necessary to ensure transparency and fairness in the revision process.
The bench also took note of the role of political parties, expressing concern that they had been largely inactive in helping eligible voters file inclusion claims. Instead, the ECI submitted that most objections from parties were aimed at removing names, a practice the Solicitor described as “very strange.” Justice Surya Kant remarked that submitting claims for inclusion was the critical first step and questioned why parties were not engaging in this effort. The court urged political parties to step up, file their affidavits in response to the ECI’s position, and actively participate in the inclusion process.
This development follows the Supreme Court’s earlier order on August 14 directing the ECI to publish a booth-wise list of approximately 6.5 million voters deleted during the SIR process. The commission complied with the directive within 56 hours, uploading the deleted names online and displaying them at local offices. Despite this, concerns about accessibility and the limited window for filing claims have persisted, prompting the court to issue fresh directions aimed at improving voter outreach and participation.
With the next hearing set for September 8, the apex court’s latest intervention places the onus on political parties, legal services authorities, and the ECI to ensure that every eligible voter in Bihar gets a fair opportunity to be included in the electoral roll.