13 August,2025– The Supreme Court on Tuesday examined multiple petitions questioning the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
A bench headed by Justice Surya Kant observed that the ECI holds the legal power to add eligible voters and remove those who are not citizens. The judges noted, however, that transparency and public confidence are essential to the process. The bench referred to the issue as stemming from a “trust gap” and instructed the ECI to explain the reported removal of around 65 lakh names from Bihar’s preliminary voter list.
The petitions, moved by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), parliamentarians Mahua Moitra and Manoj Jha, and activist Yogendra Yadav, claim that the SIR process is arbitrary and could strip voting rights from migrant labourers and economically weaker communities.
The court also backed the ECI’s position that documents such as Aadhaar cards, voter IDs, and ration cards cannot be treated as final proof of citizenship. It clarified that individuals included in the 2003 Bihar voter register, along with their descendants, would remain eligible without producing additional paperwork.
On the political front, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav accused the ECI of working with the BJP to manipulate the electoral rolls. He alleged that Muzaffarpur’s mayor and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha each possess two Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, suggesting possible irregularities.
Yadav further claimed that one of his own voter IDs was cancelled by the ECI without prior notice. The Commission has not yet publicly addressed these accusations.
The matter is expected to return to court as the ECI prepares a detailed explanation for the large-scale deletions ahead of the state’s Assembly polls.
