Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jul 11: The Supreme Court on Thursday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider, “in the interest of justice,” whether identity documents like Aadhaar, Voter ID, and Ration Cards could be accepted for verifying voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The direction came while hearing a set of petitions that claim the ECI’s June 26 order mandating the SIR exercise could lead to arbitrary voter disenfranchisement and violate the constitutional principles of free and fair elections.
A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi remarked that the petitions raised significant questions going to the very core of India’s democratic system. The court directed the Election Commission to file a counter-affidavit within a week and asked the petitioners to submit their rejoinders, if any, by July 28. The matter has been posted for further hearing on July 28 before the regular bench.
The bench framed three key legal questions for examination: the Election Commission’s authority to initiate such a special revision, the legality and procedural propriety of how the SIR is being conducted, and the timing of the exercise ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections slated for November 2025.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the Commission’s directive lacked legal backing, especially as it excluded widely accepted documents such as Aadhaar and Voter ID from being used for voter verification. He warned that the directive could disproportionately impact marginalized groups like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, migrant workers, and economically weaker sections.
On the other hand, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the ECI, defended the revision process and urged the Court not to interfere at this stage. He asserted that the full implications of the revision would only be clear after its completion. Dwivedi also objected to the standing of the petitioners, stating that most of them were NGOs or political activists with no direct connection to the voting population in Bihar. “None of them are voters in Bihar,” he said. “Some write articles, and then they file PILs.”
According to the petition filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the ECI’s SIR order mandates that voters must produce citizenship documents, including those proving the citizenship of one or both parents. Failure to do so, the petition says, could result in the voter’s exclusion from the electoral roll. The petition also claims the order is illegal as it reverses the presumption of eligibility by placing the burden of proof entirely on the individual, thereby violating the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The plea further warns that this sudden and stringent documentation requirement, coupled with the tight timeline for completion, could result in the exclusion of lakhs of genuine voters from the rolls. With the draft electoral rolls scheduled for release in August, petitioners argue that the ongoing process risks undermining voter rights ahead of a crucial state election.