Supreme Court affirms ECI’s responsibility to publish voter list changes following Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision
ECI assured to disclose additions and deletions after SIR completion; court upholds transparency amid electoral challenges
The Supreme Court has acknowledged the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) obligation to publish voter list changes after the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymlaya Bagchi, hearing petitions including one by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), emphasized that ECI “knows their responsibility” to disclose the lists of voters deleted and added.
In the Bihar SIR process, the draft electoral roll initially proposed dropping 65 lakh names on August 1, which was later reduced to 47 lakh deletions upon completion of the revision on September 30. The roll shrank from 7.89 crore to approximately 7.42 crore electors. The Court has declined blanket orders on the inclusions and exclusions, directing aggrieved individuals to file appeals with the State’s Chief Electoral Officer.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan urged the Court for publication of separate lists of deleted and added voters, citing the imminence of elections and the public interest in transparency. Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing ECI, confirmed that the data would be published without requiring further court intervention.
The Court noted that final constituency-wise elector lists must be shared with political parties and polling agents, further ensuring the election process remains transparent and accountable.