New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, agreed to hear multiple petitions against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. The court paid heed to the petitioners’ request for an urgent hearing and fixed the matter for July 10.
The court, however, refused to grant an interim stay on the electoral roll revision exercise.
Petitions against SIR have been moved by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and activist Yogendra Yadav. The petitioners have claimed that the ECI’s voter list revision process is unconstitutional and will disenfranchise millions of valid voters.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Shadan Farasat jointly mentioned the matter before a partial working days bench comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, seeking urgent listing,
The ECI issued a statement on Sunday clarifying that it has not changed its instructions on the revision process, after several social media posts, including one by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, citing an advertisement published by it in newspapers to suggest that submission of documents is not a necessity.
The Congress and other INDI Alliance partners have been opposing the provision that makes it mandatory for those whose names are not there on the 2003 Electoral Roll, to submit documents to prove they are genuine voters. Those whose parents’ names are not on the list, will also have to produce documents for their fathers and mothers.
“Why are people who have been voting in election after election being asked to show their documents for voting ?” Kharge said in a post on X.
The ECI has stated that while voters are required to ‘submit their documents any time before July 25, 2025’, those who fail to do so would get an opportunity during the ‘Claims and Objections’ period.
The ECI also urged people to “beware of statements being made by a few persons, who without reading the SIR order dated 24 June 2025…. are attempting to confuse the public with their incorrect and misleading statements”.
The Election Commission has maintained that such revisions are routine and necessitated by rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and the inclusion of names of foreign illegal immigrants. The poll panel also said it wants to ensure the integrity and preparation of error-free electoral rolls through the exercise.