The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

According to the causelist published on the apex court’s website, a Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi will take up the matter today.

Earlier this week, the Bench agreed to urgently list the matter after senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and Shadan Farasat sought an expedited hearing.

Multiple petitions have been filed opposing the June 26 directive issued by the ECI to carry out a second revision of the voters list.

The petitioners claim that the exercise, which requires voters to reconfirm their eligibility through documentation, could lead to the arbitrary exclusion of eligible voters and undermine free and fair elections — a principle that forms part of the Constitution’s basic structure.

One of the key petitioners, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, has urged the Court to restrain the poll body from issuing similar directives in other states. Represented by advocate Neha Rathi, Moitra argued that this is the first time such an unprecedented verification drive is being conducted, where electors already listed in the rolls and with a history of voting in multiple elections are being asked to prove their eligibility again.

The petitions contend that the SIR process is "absurd and unjustified" since these individuals have previously cast votes in both Assembly and general elections based on the same credentials.

In response to the backlash, the ECI on Wednesday cited Article 326 of the Constitution on social media platform X to support its stance. The article lays down the framework for adult suffrage, emphasizing that elections shall be based on citizenship, age, and absence of disqualifications.

The Supreme Court’s decision in this case is expected to have significant implications, not just for the electoral process in Bihar, but potentially for other states as well, should the ECI choose to replicate the SIR model elsewhere.