- August 12, 2025
SC Says Bihar Voter List Revision Results Can Be Set Aside Until September If Illegality Proven
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The Supreme Court stated that the results of the ongoing ‘special intensive revision’ of the Bihar voter list can be set aside until September if alleged illegality is proven.
The court was hearing petitions against the Election Commission’s voter re-verification drive in Bihar. (IMAGE: PTI FILE)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the results of the ongoing “special intensive revision” of Bihar’s voter list could be set aside as late as September if illegality is proven.
The ECI told the court it was conducting “a purification exercise” and urged petitioners to assist rather than attempt to stall the process.
The court was hearing petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) voter re-verification exercise, which is being carried out months before the Assembly election in the state. Petitioners have called it “an exercise of mass exclusion” and argued that the poll body has no power to determine citizenship.
The Supreme Court said the ECI was correct in stating that Aadhaar cannot be treated as conclusive proof of citizenship. On complaints that some voters had been marked as dead, the court said this could be due to an “inadvertent error” in updating records. The petitioners had produced in court two individuals they said had been declared dead in the voter rolls.
They questioned the constitutional basis of the poll body seeking additional documents from voters, excluding Aadhaar and voter ID, to prove eligibility.
The ECI dismissed the petitioners’ claims as speculative and pointed out that no political party or individual voter had approached the court over the issue. The bench also remarked it was a “sweeping argument” to suggest that no one in Bihar possessed the required documents. The Election Commission in an affidavit to the Supreme Court last week assured that nobody’s name will be deleted from the draft electoral roll without prior notice and a formal order.
The poll body had given a month, up to September 1, for citizens and political parties to file claims and objections based on the draft rolls.
Meanwhile, the politics over the Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) continued to rage on Tuesday, with several parties protesting, even in the parliament, against the exercise.
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev…Read More
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev… Read More
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