Supreme Court Urges Mass Inclusion in Bihar Voter Roll Review

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday strongly emphasised the need for “mass inclusion” rather than “en masse exclusion” in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar. With the draft list scheduled to be published on 1 August, the apex court questioned the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) reluctance to accept Aadhaar, Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC), and ration cards as valid proof of identity.

Hearing a batch of petitions that allege mass disenfranchisement through the revision process, the Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi pressed the ECI to allow the use of Aadhaar and EPIC. “So proceed with Aadhaar and EPIC… Include these two documents in the list of 11,” Justice Kant directed during the proceedings.

The ECI, however, continued to resist the proposal, arguing that Aadhaar, EPIC, and ration cards could be forged. Responding to this, Justice Kant remarked, “Any document on Earth can be forged. Maybe one EPIC in a thousand may not be genuine. That can be taken up on a case-to-case basis.”

Justice Kant also pointed out that Aadhaar and EPIC carried a “presumption of correctness”, noting that Aadhaar had a built-in authentication mechanism and that EPIC was issued by the ECI itself.

Justice Bagchi further added, “According to you, none of these 11 documents are conclusive. They are just documents to accompany the enumeration forms. So, if someone gives an Aadhaar card as proof of identity, why will you not evaluate the claim of the person to be in the electoral roll?”

The ECI affidavit had earlier stated that the draft roll to be published on 1 August would include all voters from the existing 2025 electoral roll who submitted enumeration forms, with or without supporting documents. The final roll is scheduled for publication on 30 September, with a claims period of 31 days after the draft roll, ending on 1 September.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, highlighted the risk of around 4.5 crore people being excluded from the draft roll. He expressed concern that once excluded, these individuals would bear the burden of proving their identity and citizenship, filing objections, and seeking reviews.

However, the court remained unconvinced about halting the process, noting that no request had been made to stay the publication of the draft roll. “It was only a draft,” said Justice Kant, assuring that the court’s authority to overturn any ECI decision would remain unaffected by the draft’s publication.

The ECI also clarified that individuals whose names were present in the 2003 electoral roll, during the previous intensive revision, are exempt from submitting identity documents. They only need to provide a pre-filled enumeration form and an extract of the 2003 roll.

The court will announce a schedule for final arguments in the case on 29 July.