SC to Hear Pleas Against Bihar SIR Today
The NGO also argued that excluding Aadhaar and ration cards from the list of acceptable documents for the SIR in Bihar is “patently absurd,” asserting that the EC has provided no valid reason for the decision.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission’s decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A two-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi is likely to take up the matter. The Election Commission has defended the ongoing SIR, saying it enhances the purity of elections by “weeding out ineligible persons” from the rolls.
Justifying its June 24 order directing the SIR, the poll panel said all major political parties were involved in the exercise and had deployed more than 1.5 lakh booth-level agents to reach eligible voters, even though those parties are now opposing the process in the apex court.
In a detailed affidavit countering allegations by petitioners, including several political leaders, civil society members, and organisations, the EC stated: “The entitlement to vote flows from Article 326 read with Sections 16 and 19 of the RP Act, 1950, and Section 62 of the RP Act, 1951, which contain qualifications relating to citizenship, age, and ordinary residence. An ineligible person has no right to vote and thus cannot claim a violation of Articles 19 and 21 in this regard.”
In its rejoinder affidavit, the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the lead petitioner in the case, contended that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been vested with broad and unchecked discretion that could result in the disenfranchisement of a significant segment of Bihar’s population.
“The petition submits that the SIR order dated June 24, 2025, if not set aside, can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of citizens from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution,” ADR said.
The NGO also argued that excluding Aadhaar and ration cards from the list of acceptable documents for the SIR in Bihar is “patently absurd,” asserting that the EC has provided no valid reason for the decision.
Further, ADR alleged irregularities in the conduct of the SIR, claiming that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were signing enumeration forms themselves; that deceased individuals were shown as having filled forms; and that people who had not completed forms received messages stating their forms had been submitted.