Bihar SIR | 'If There's Mass Exclusion, We'll Step In' : Supreme Court To Commence Hearing On August 12

Responding to the apprehensions that 65 lakh voters are going to be excluded from the draft list to be published by the Election Commission of India in the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, the Supreme Court on Tuesday orally said that if there is any mass exclusion, then the Court will step in.A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi listed the petitions challenging the Bihar SIR for hearing on August 12 and 13.Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Association for Democratic Reforms, told the Court about the ECI's statement that 65 lakh persons have not submitted the enumeration forms during the SIR process as they are either dead or have permanently shifted elsewhere. Bhushan told the bench that these persons will have to apply afresh for inclusion in the list. Justice Surya Kant, observing that the Election Commission of India, being a Constitutional authority, will be deemed to act in accordance with the law, assured that the Court will hear the concerns. "We are here, we will hear you," Justice Kant assured.Justice Bagchi expressed, "Jan 2025 list is the starting point if there was no SIR. Draft list will be published by ECI. Your apprehension is 65 lakh odd voters will not feature...they (ECI) are seeking correction vis-a-vis 2025 entry. We are overviewing the thing as a judicial authority. If there is mass exclusion, we will immediately step in. Bring 15 people saying they are alive."Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, for RJD MP Manoj Jha, said, "They know who the 65 lakh people...If they mention the names in draft list, we have no problem."If draft list is conspicuously silent, you will bring to our notice," Justice Kant said. Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the ECI, said that the procedure allows the filing of objections to the draft list.To recap, vide an order dated June 24, 2025, ECI initiated the SIR exercise for Bihar in exercise of powers under Section 21(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1950. Yesterday, the Court suggested the poll body to consider Aadhaar card and EPIC card when revising the electoral rolls, as there is a "presumption of correctness" in the case of these 2 documents. The matter was listed today to fix a date of hearing.Notably, ECI is set to public Bihar's draft electoral rolls on August 1. Though a request was made yesterday to stop the release of the draft list, the Supreme Court declined the prayer, saying that it's only a draft list and if any illegality is ultimately found, the entire thing can be quashed. At the same time, Justice Kant impressed upon the ECI that instead of "en masse exclusion", there should be, "en masse inclusion" of voters.For a detailed background of the matter, click here.Case Title: ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS AND ORS. Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 640/2025 (and connected cases) Click Here To Read/Download Order

Bihar SIR | 'If There's Mass Exclusion, We'll Step In' : Supreme Court To Commence Hearing On August 12

Debby Jain

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