On Monday, July 28, the Supreme Court of India declined to halt the publication of the draft voter list scheduled for August 1 as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, while not holding a detailed hearing due to administrative duties, emphasized the importance of including reliable identity documents such as Aadhaar and Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) in the process. The bench urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure “en masse inclusion” rather than exclusion, indicating that official documents should be presumed valid unless individual cases of forgery arise.
The petitions, filed by various opposition leaders and civil society organizations, argue that the ongoing voter list revision process is rushed and threatens to disenfranchise millions, particularly from marginalized communities such as Muslims, Dalits, and migrant workers. Concerns were raised over the ECI’s exclusion of commonly held IDs like Aadhaar and ration cards—documents widely accepted in prior elections. Advocates for the petitioners criticized the ECI’s alleged mass uploading of enumeration forms without consent and pointed out that even deceased individuals’ names were being submitted, violating procedural guidelines.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Association for Democratic Reforms, had earlier requested a stay on the draft list notification citing the potential inconvenience to over 4.5 crore voters. The Court, however, reiterated that the draft nature of the list allows for legal correction if necessary. Justice Kant clarified that although the Court would not interfere at this stage, the matter will remain under judicial scrutiny and may be reviewed further. Meanwhile, the ECI defended its discretion under the Representation of People Act, 1950, maintaining that only Indian citizens must be registered as voters and that its 11-document list was illustrative, not exhaustive.
