The Supreme Court will hear on July 10 the petitions challenging the EC’s Special Revision of Bihar’s voter list. However, the Court has refused to pause the ongoing revision process for now.
The Supreme Court set to hear on Thursday the challenge against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar, which is preparing for upcoming elections.
While the court agreed to the petitioners’ request for an urgent hearing, it declined to halt the revision process.
Four petitions have been submitted to the Supreme Court, contesting the poll body’s decision to revise voter lists just months before the Assembly elections. The petitioners include Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, the poll watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms, the rights organization People’s Union for Civil Liberties, activist Yogendra Yadav, and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.
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Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Shadan Farasat, and Gopal Sankaranarayanan requested an urgent hearing. They expressed concerns that the revision process could result in the removal of millions of names from the voter lists, disproportionately affecting women and underprivileged communities.
Mr. Sibal stated,
“The matter concerns lakhs of voters,”
Initiated on June 24, the Special Intensive Revision aims to add eligible citizens to the voter list while eliminating ineligible voters. The last revision for Bihar took place in 2003. The Election Commission highlighted several factors necessitating this revision, including rapid urbanization, frequent migration, new young voters, unreported deaths, and the inclusion of names of foreign illegal immigrants.
The Election Commission has announced that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will carry out a house-to-house survey to verify voters by examining documents. They will adhere to strict guidelines regarding voter eligibility and disqualification grounds.
The Commission emphasized that poll officials must ensure that legitimate voters especially the elderly, sick, Persons with Disabilities (PwD), and other vulnerable groups are not subjected to harassment. Political parties have also been asked to assist in resolving discrepancies during the preparation of the revised voter roll.
The Congress party has raised concerns that the voter list revision poses a risk of “willful exclusion” of voters through state machinery.
They argued,
“Lakhs of union and state government officials will now control and dictate who has correct documents and who doesn’t, who gets to vote in the upcoming Bihar elections etc. This carries a huge risk of willful exclusion of voters using the power of the state machinery.”
Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, described the timing of this revision as a “conspiracy.”
He noted that the last routine voter list revision occurred in 2003, taking nearly two years to complete.
He said,
“Now elections are to be held in November. Two months are left before the notification process begins. That means the Election Commission has to make a new list… of 8 crore people… in just 25 days. And that too when 73 per cent of the state is affected by floods!”
In contrast, the BJP, part of the ruling coalition in Bihar, contended that the exercise is vital for maintaining the integrity of the electoral process.
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BJP leader and Bihar minister Nitin Nabin challenged the Congress’s motives in opposing the initiative, asking,
“If genuine voters are being verified and fake voters are being removed, is Congress sitting here to commit fraud? I want to ask the Opposition members who are opposing this, are you trying to gain power through fake votes?”