The Supreme Court, addressing the Bihar voter list row, advised political parties to act as NGOs and help excluded voters reclaim their rights ahead of the upcoming elections.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India has offered both reassurance and a firm reminder to political parties involved in the growing controversy surrounding Bihar’s voter list revision. Amid concerns over the exclusion of nearly 65 lakh voters, the apex court on Tuesday advised political parties to “act as NGOs”, assisting affected citizens in ensuring their names are correctly listed on the electoral rolls.
Background
The controversy is the Election Commission’s (EC) “special intensive revision” of Bihar’s electoral rolls ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled for November. This exercise has reportedly removed 65 lakh names from the list, allegedly of those who have either died or relocated.
The opposition alleges that this process is politically motivated, aiming to disenfranchise specific communities that have traditionally supported them. The controversy has even reached Parliament, triggering widespread debates over electoral transparency and voter rights.
Supreme Court
Despite repeated requests, the Supreme Court has refused to stay the ongoing revision, which it noted has already covered 99.8% of registered voters as of July 25. However, the court has emphasized that it will intervene immediately if there is evidence of mass exclusion.
“We are overviewing the process as a judicial authority. If there is mass exclusion, we will immediately step in. Bring 15 people saying they are alive,”
said Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The court reiterated that excluded voters have 30 days to appeal, and political parties should actively help them in this process.
Justice Surya Kant, stating the EC’s stance, remarked that political parties must go beyond merely raising objections and instead “act as NGOs”. That is, they should play a constructive, grassroots role in aiding affected voters.
The court stressed that credible evidence of wrongful exclusions would significantly strengthen their case and help judicial authorities take swift action if required.
Another discussion was the use of official IDs for re-verification. While the EC has concerns about forgery, the court maintained that documents like Aadhaar and EPIC should be considered valid, noting:
“There’s presumption of correctness with official documents… any document in the world can be forged,”
Justice Kant observed.
The EC’s own voter ID card (EPIC) has been controversially excluded from the list of acceptable documents, despite being widely used.
The next step in the process is the publication of the draft electoral roll, scheduled for August 1. The Supreme Court has set August 12 as the date for the next hearing, by which time both the petitioners and the Election Commission are expected to conclude their arguments.
During the proceedings, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing one of the petitioners, urged the EC to explicitly include the names of excluded voters in the draft list. The court responded positively to this suggestion, noting that any omission could be brought directly to its attention for prompt action.
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