The Supreme Court stated Tuesday that conducting the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar falls within the Election Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction, and any judicial directive would constitute interference in the poll body’s domain.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi made this observation while hearing petitions challenging the SIR process, which resulted in significant deletions from Bihar’s voter lists.
“Why do you want us to take over all functions? Conducting SIR is the prerogative and exclusive domain of the Election Commission. If we come in between, this would be interfering,” the bench stated.
Petitioners Highlight Lack of Notification
Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the petitioners, argued that millions whose names were deleted received no notification.
“None of the 3.66 lakh people whose names were deleted received any notice. No one was given any reason. While there is a provision for appeal, the question of appeal does not arise because there is no information,” Singhvi said.
Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Association for Democratic Reforms, claimed 4.7 million names were removed.
“After the final voter list was released, we were able to do some analysis. We received the 2003 directive for SIR, and another directive from 2016 that explained how to remove fake voters. SIR has exacerbated problems instead of solving them,” he said.
“There is a complete lack of transparency. Information about the 6.5 million deleted voters was provided only after a court order. The Commission did not upload the information as per the guidelines,” he added.
Election Commission’s Response
Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the Election Commission, countered that deleted voters were properly informed, and both draft and final lists were provided to political parties.
The court requested petitioners provide a list of approximately 100 individuals claiming they weren’t notified about deletions and couldn’t file appeals.
“We need to understand how the system works. They won’t provide information from the headquarters. They have to verify at ground level. The question is, who are we doing this for? Why aren’t people coming forward?” the bench said.
Electoral Roll Statistics
The Election Commission released final electoral rolls on September 30 containing approximately 7.42 crore names. During the SIR process, 68 lakh names were deleted, with 21 lakh subsequently restored following the claims and objections period.
The hearing continues Thursday. Bihar’s two-phase assembly elections are scheduled for November 6 and 11, with results on November 14.
