The Supreme Court on Monday (July 7) agreed to urgently list a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to carry out a “Special Intensive Revision” of the electoral rolls in Bihar.

A bench comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the joint mentioning by Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and Shadan Farasat, who pressed for immediate listing due to the urgency and potential consequences of the ECI's move.

The petitioners argued that voters who fail to submit forms along with specified documents within the strict deadline of July 25 risk being deleted from the electoral rolls — even if they have consistently voted for decades.

“Eight crore is the electorate and four crore have to do the enumeration,” submitted Dr Singhvi.
“It is an impossible task,” added Sibal, representing the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
“They won’t accept Aadhaar, not even the voter ID,” Sankaranarayanan pointed out.

Justice Dhulia noted that the timeline may not carry binding force as elections have not been notified yet, suggesting that there is some room for reconsideration.

The bench agreed to list the matter on Thursday and permitted the petitioners to serve advance notice to the Election Commission of India.

At least four petitions have been filed so far against the ECI's decision. The petitioners include:

• RJD MP Manoj Jha

• Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

• People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

• Activist Yogendra Yadav

• TMC MP Mahua Moitra

The petitions contend that the special revision exercise could lead to mass disenfranchisement, particularly of marginalised voters, and is being undertaken without adequate safeguards or public awareness.