Today, On 16th October, In the Bihar SIR row , the Election Commission tells the Supreme Court that petitioners, political parties, and NGOs are trying to discredit the Special Intensive Revision exercise, despite ECI appointing over 90,000 BLOs and involving political parties.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) defended the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise as “accurate” during a Supreme Court hearing on Thursday, asserting that the allegations made by the petitioner political parties and NGOs were unfounded attempts to undermine the process.
The ECI stated that not a single voter has filed an appeal against name deletions since the final electoral roll was published.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi remarked on the absence of political parties from the hearing due to election rallies in the state, expressing its expectation that the poll panel would address any typographical errors and mistakes in the final electoral roll, prepared after the SIR exercise, with due diligence and offer corrective measures.
In seeking the dismissal of petitions challenging the June 24 decision to conduct the Bihar SIR, the ECI accused the petitioners of harboring “ulterior motives” and merely focusing on making “false allegations” to tarnish the SIR exercise, the final electoral roll, and the ECI itself for political gains.
In its affidavit, the poll body noted that besides the appointment of Booth Level Agents (BLAs), political parties and civil society organizations made little significant contribution to ensure all eligible voters were included in the final electoral roll.
It stated,
“The approach of the political parties and the petitioners has been to accuse the ECI and attempt to point out errors in the SIR exercise. In contrast, the ECI not only appointed more than 90,000 BLOs, but also involved political parties and got BLAs appointed. The exercise was conducted on an H2H basis involving more than one visit. All relevant data was uploaded on the websites,”
The ECI further mentioned that despite the involvement of the State Legal Services Authority, the number of objections and correction requests was minimal, indicating the accuracy of the SIR exercise. It noted that even after resolving objections and deleting approximately 3.66 lakh individuals from the final electoral roll, no appeals have been reported to date.
The ECI countered allegations made by petitioners, including the NGO Association of Democratic Reforms and activist Yogendra Yadav, regarding the disproportionate exclusion of Muslims. They claimed that 25 percent of the 65 lakh excluded voters from the draft electoral roll were Muslims, and 34 percent of the 3.66 lakh electors deleted were also Muslim.
The ECI stated that this claim was based on software for name recognition, the authenticity and accuracy of which could not be verified.
Clarifying that the 65 lakh deleted individuals were not included for reasons such as being deceased, having permanently moved, or having entries in multiple constituencies, it added,
“This communal approach is to be deprecated. The electoral rolls database does not capture any information on religion of any elector…,”
The bench has scheduled further hearings for November 4 to resolve legal issues, expressing confidence that the ECI would fulfill its responsibilities and conduct the elections smoothly.
During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, urged the ECI to disclose the number of deleted voters and the reasons for their removal to ensure transparency in the process.
The bench acknowledged that the electoral roll would be frozen on October 17 for certain constituencies going to polls in the first phase, and on October 20 for those in the second phase.
The ECI highlighted that documents submitted by the petitioners indicated that up until 2022, the number of voters exceeded the projected population, justifying the SIR exercise after more than twenty-two years since the last one conducted in 2003 in Bihar.
It dismissed claims made by the petitioners regarding the exercise being conducted hastily and within a short timeframe as “incorrect and misconceived.”
It also refuted allegations regarding the high illiteracy rate in Bihar and the impact of flooding in several districts, stating that these claims were misguided and erroneous.
Key highlights from the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) affidavit:
- The petitioners are attempting to “derail and disrupt” the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar.
- The affidavits submitted by the petitioners contain incorrect and misleading statements. Their true intention is to obstruct the SIR from being implemented in other states.
- The ECI addressed claims made by political activist and psephologist Yogendra Yadav, who suggested that the electoral list generated during the SIR process has resulted in significant voter exclusions. The ECI argued that Yadav’s assertions relied on newspaper articles and self-created charts that were not included in his affidavit, deeming his submissions as a distortion based on limited data sets.
- The affidavit stated that the petitioners misused population projections from the 2011 Census to support their claims. The ECI contended that such data is not suitable for assessing the accuracy of the final electoral roll.
- In response to allegations of disproportionate exclusion of Muslims, the ECI criticized the petitioners’ standpoint as communal and deserving of condemnation. The ECI emphasized that its database does not record any religious information.
- The Commission provided details regarding the reasons for deletions from the previous electoral roll. Of the 7.89 crore voters on the earlier roll, 7.24 crore submitted enumeration forms during the SIR, while 65 lakh did not. Among those who did not submit forms, 22 lakh were deceased, 36 lakh had permanently relocated, and 7 lakh were registered elsewhere.
- The ECI noted that 3.66 lakh deletions from the voters’ list were made after proper notices, hearings, and orders from election officials, with no appeals filed to date.
- The ECI also addressed Yadav’s recent claim about the voters’ list containing 45,000 nonsensical names and other errors. The ECI clarified that these errors emerged only in Hindi translations due to software issues, while English entries were accurate and verified by Booth Level Officers. The discrepancies in local language names did not affect voter eligibility, according to the affidavit.
- Regarding Yadav’s assertion that over 4 lakh voters’ houses were recorded with the number “0,” the ECI explained that these were “notional house numbers.” The affidavit stated that voters provide their house details, and temporary numbers are assigned when no official numbers are available, ensuring families remain grouped on the rolls. No new markings were made during the SIR 2025.
- The Commission claimed that the SIR 2025 has successfully achieved its goal of purifying the electoral rolls, with the final roll being notified on September 30, 2025.
Earlier, On October 7, the Supreme Court requested the ECI to provide details about the 3.66 lakh voters who were part of the draft voter list but were excluded from the final electoral roll, citing “confusion” surrounding the issue.
Additionally, On September 30, the ECI announced that the total number of electors had decreased by nearly 47 lakh to 7.42 crore in the final electoral roll, down from 7.89 crore before the SIR.
However, the final figure reflects an increase of 17.87 lakh from the 7.24 crore electors listed in the draft issued on August 1, which had removed 65 lakh voters for various reasons, including death, migration, and duplication.
While 21.53 lakh new electors were added to the draft list, 3.66 lakh names were removed, resulting in a net increase of 17.87 lakh.
The assembly elections in Bihar are set to take place in 121 of the 243 assembly seats on November 6, with the remaining 122 constituencies voting on November 11.
The counting of votes is scheduled for November 14.
Case Title: ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS AND ORS. Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 640/2025 (and connected cases)
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Bihar SIR Row