New Delhi, September 1, 2025:
In a significant development in the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) matter, the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Supreme Court of India on Monday that claims, objections, and corrections regarding the draft electoral rolls can still be filed even after the September 1 deadline and will be duly considered until the last date of nominations for the elections.
Taking note of this submission, a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi refrained from extending the September 1 deadline as sought by several political parties. The bench recorded the ECI’s assurance that inclusions and exclusions filed after September 1 would be integrated into the final electoral roll.
ECI’s Stand Before the Court
The ECI submitted a written note clarifying:
“Filing of claims/objections or corrections is not barred after September 1. They can be submitted even after the deadline, and the same will be considered after the roll has been finalized. The process will continue until the last date of nominations, and all inclusions/exclusions will be integrated in the final roll.”
Recording this assurance, the bench allowed the process to continue and directed political parties/petitioners to file affidavits in response to the ECI’s note.
The Court also took steps to facilitate voters in navigating the claims and objections process. It directed the Executive Chairman of the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) to issue instructions to all District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) by Tuesday noon, requiring them to depute para-legal volunteers (PLVs).
• Each PLV’s name and mobile number must be notified for public access.
• PLVs will assist individual voters and political parties in filing claims, objections, or corrections through online systems.
• After providing assistance, PLVs must submit a confidential report to the concerned District Judge.
• The reports will then be collated at the State Legal Services Authority level for monitoring.
This marks the first instance of the Supreme Court actively involving legal services authorities to ensure fair voter inclusion in an electoral revision exercise.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, submitted that political parties were primarily filing objections seeking deletion of names rather than claims for inclusion, which he termed “very strange.”
• He stated that out of 7.24 crore registered voters in Bihar, 65 lakh voters had been excluded in the draft.
• After the Court’s August 22 order allowing online inclusion through Aadhaar, only 33,326 individual claims and 25 claims through parties were submitted.
• In contrast, 1,34,738 objections for exclusion were filed.
• He also claimed that 99.5% of voters have already filed their forms.
On the other side, several lawyers representing petitioners and political parties criticized the process:
• Advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that ECI officials were “not following their own manuals.”
• Advocate Nizam Pasha alleged that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were refusing to accept forms.
• Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam, representing the RJD, pointed out that only nine days remained between the Court’s Aadhaar-related order on August 22 and the September 1 deadline, making compliance impractical.
The case arises out of widespread concern regarding the Bihar SIR 2025 exercise, where approximately 65 lakh voters were reportedly excluded from the draft electoral rolls.
Key Developments So Far:
• July 28, 2025: SC refused to stop publication of draft rolls (due August 1) but asked ECI to consider Aadhaar and EPIC for verification. Justice Surya Kant remarked that instead of “en masse exclusion,” there should be “en masse inclusion.”
• July 29, 2025: SC orally observed that if there was mass exclusion of voters, it would intervene.
• August 6, 2025: ADR filed an application alleging that ECI withheld details of the excluded 65 lakh voters and failed to disclose reasons for non-inclusion.
• August 12, 2025: Petitioners argued that Bihar SIR was illegal and that onus of proving citizenship cannot be shifted to voters. Two individuals declared “dead” in the rolls were produced in Court. Bench treated it as a likely “inadvertent error.”
• August 13, 2025: Bench asked whether ECI has residual powers under Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 to conduct such revisions. The issue of West Bengal’s SIR was flagged but deferred.
• August 14, 2025: SC directed ECI to publish names of 65 lakh excluded voters on the Bihar CEO’s website and district websites, with reasons for exclusion, in an EPIC-searchable format.
• August 22, 2025: SC ordered that excluded voters may apply for inclusion online using Aadhaar cards. Nearly 95,000 claims were filed within a week of this order.
• September 1, 2025: ECI assures Court that post-deadline claims/objections will still be entertained until the nomination deadline. SC directs deployment of para-legal volunteers to assist voters.
Case Details
• Case Title: Association for Democratic Reforms & Ors. v. Election Commission of India & Ors.
• Case No.: W.P.(C) 640/2025 (with connected cases)
• Bench: Justice Surya Kant & Justice Joymalya Bagchi
• Next Hearing: September 8, 2025
