Final arguments on Bihar voter list revision to be heard by SC today

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India will hear final arguments on Tuesday in a series of cases challenging the legitimacy of Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which was carried out before the critical 2025 Assembly elections.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi had earlier deferred the hearing at the request of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which argued that the matter should be taken up only after the final publication of the revised voter list on October 1.

The ECI has now completed the SIR process, with the final electoral roll listing 7.43 crore electors, including 14 lakh first-time voters, IANS reported.

The petitions, filed by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and others, have raised concerns about the legality and transparency of the SIR process. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing on behalf of ADR, had urged the court to hear the matter before the final roll was published, citing possible violations of voter rights and procedural lapses. However, the bench clarified that the publication of the final list would not preclude judicial review and stated that it would intervene if any illegality was found, even post-publication.

The court had previously directed the ECI to accept Aadhaar as a valid document for the verification process during the SIR. However, the bench emphasised that Aadhaar cannot be treated as proof of citizenship, reinforcing that the ECI must ensure all submitted documents are genuine and properly vetted.

Refusing to pass any interim or piecemeal orders, the bench reserved comprehensive judgment until the final hearing. “We will examine the entire exercise in totality,” Justice Kant remarked during the last session.

Meanwhile, the ECI has announced that the Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases, on November 6 and 11, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 14. Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar described the upcoming Bihar polls as the “mother of all elections,” highlighting the extensive preparations made to ensure peaceful and transparent voting.

“We want to assure the voters of Bihar that the elections will not only be smooth and fair but also the most peaceful ever, with a special focus on law and order,” Kumar said, joined by fellow Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

This year’s elections mark the first major electoral exercise in Bihar following the SIR-driven purification of the state’s voter list.