SC fixes August 12-13 for hearing challenge to SIR, to intervene in case of mass exclusion of voters

Stating that it will intervene if there was mass exclusion of voters from electoral rolls in Bihar in the wake of ongoing Special Intensive Revision by the Election Commission of India, the Supreme court on Tuesday fixed August 12-13 for hearing a batch of petition challenging the exercise triggered ahead of the state assembly elections slated for October-November.

Addressing the concerns that over 65 lakh voters may be deleted from the draft electoral rolls scheduled to be published on August 1 as part of the ECI’s ongoing SIR exercise, a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, assured the petitioners that the Court would intervene immediately if any mass exclusion takes place.

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“We are overseeing the process as a judicial authority. If there is mass exclusion, we will immediately step in,” the bench said.

Appearing for Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Advocate Prashant Bhushan told the Court that the ECI has admitted that nearly 65 lakh voters failed to submit their enumeration forms during the SIR process—either due to death or permanent migration.

Bhushan said these individuals would now need to reapply for inclusion, placing the burden on voters rather than the state.

Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, told the bench that the process includes a window for objections and claims after the publication of the draft rolls. He added that the poll panel has made provision for inclusion of the left-out voters until September 1.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had told the ECI to adopt a “mass inclusion, not mass exclusion” approach and once again asked the poll body to consider accepting Aadhaar and Voter ID cards as valid documents for voter verification.

The Court observed that most of the 11 documents already accepted under the SIR are equally susceptible to forgery, brushing aside ECI’s argument that Aadhaar and EPIC are not valid proof of citizenship.

Any document can be forged. That cannot be the reason to exclude Aadhaar or Voter ID, which are widely held documents, the Court had said.

The petitions—filed by the NGOs – Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) -, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), RJD MP Manoj Jha, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, activist Yogendra Yadav, and former MLA Mujahid Alam—have challenged the ECI’s June 24 directive, claiming it violates fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326 of the Constitution.

They have contended that the poll body in SIR drive imposes fresh burden on the voters to produce documents like the birth certificate, matriculation certificate including documents relating to the parents and excludes widely held Aadhar, voter ID and ration cards as proof of identity.

This, the petitioners have contended, disproportionately impacts the marginalised sections of society and rural voters in Bihar. It has also been alleged that the timing of the exercise—just ahead of assembly elections—raises suspicions about its intent.

However, the ECI has defended and justified its action, stating that the SIR is constitutionally valid under Article 324 of the Constitution, which gives it plenary powers over electoral roll preparation, and the documents required under SIR mirror the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955—particularly Section 3 relating to birth-based citizenship.

Stating that the process is inclusive and allows claims and objections to be filed until Sept 1, the poll panel has said that the political parties have been given access to the list of voters who haven’t submitted forms and are being roped in to assist the process.

Despite these prima facie assurances by the ECI, the petitioners maintain that the risk of mass disenfranchisement looms large, especially in the rural and marginalised sections of Bihar.