Supreme Court Declines Extension of Electoral Roll Revision in Bihar, Flags Trust Deficit

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant additional time for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, even as it expressed concern over a growing trust deficit between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and political parties regarding the process.

A bench headed by Justice Surya Kant noted that claims and objections can still be filed beyond the preparation of the electoral roll and until the nomination stage. To facilitate this, the Court directed the Bihar Legal Services Authority to deploy volunteers to assist voters in submitting their claims and objections.

The bench also took note of the relatively low number of claims filed so far, remarking that political parties had not been sufficiently proactive. Addressing counsel for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Court said: “Please tell your party to activate itself,” urging all political stakeholders to engage more meaningfully in the revision exercise.

The Court further asked parties and petitioners to specifically identify voters whose claims were rejected due to Aadhaar-related issues, rather than relying solely on the disputed figure of 65 lakh excluded names.

The case stems from applications filed by RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha and Bihar MLA Akhtarul Iman, among others, seeking an extension of the September 1 deadline for filing claims and objections. Last week, the Court was informed that nearly 80,000 claims had been submitted in the three weeks following its earlier order, with another 95,000 in the subsequent week—indicating increased participation once the process was broadened.

In an earlier order, the Court had directed the ECI to allow approximately 65 lakh excluded voters to apply for inclusion online by submitting details with their Aadhaar cards. At the time, the bench had orally indicated that an extension request could be considered later, before finally rejecting it on Monday.

Previously, on August 14, the Court instructed the ECI to publish the names of the excluded voters on the website of the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer and district election portals. It also ordered that reasons for exclusion be specified and the data provided in an EPIC-searchable format to ensure transparency in the ongoing revision.