During the Supreme Court hearing on the Bihar SIR process, the Election Commission stated that the petitioners deliberately intend to obstruct the electoral process. The Commission described its process as transparent and requested 10 days from the Court. The next hearing will be on November 4.
New Delhi: During the Supreme Court hearing on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar, the Election Commission presented its side, stating that the petitioners are deliberately trying to obstruct the electoral process. The Commission said that voters are aware of everything and there is no dissatisfaction regarding the voter list. According to the Commission, the petitioner organization ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms) wants immediate data for analytics, while voters themselves trust the electoral process and can await guidance from the Commission.
First and Second Phases of Process Underway
The Election Commission informed that the first phase of the SIR process in Bihar would be completed by October 17, and the second phase by October 20. After this, the voter list would be made public on the Commission's website. The Commission stated that no formal appeal had been received from any voter so far.
Court's Observations
During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that the list of individuals whose names have been removed from the voter list should also be made public. On this, Justice Suryakant stated that he had full faith that the Election Commission would fulfill its constitutional responsibility with complete honesty. However, Bhushan also maintained that the publication of the list is mandatory and the matter cannot be closed.
Bhushan stated that after removing approximately 65 lakh names, the Commission had removed some more names, but the new list has not yet been released. On this, Justice Suryakant said that it is a continuous process and the final form of the list is not yet ready. Bhushan responded by saying that maintaining the transparency of the voter list is essential as per the rules. Meanwhile, the Election Commission reiterated that voters are aware of everything and the process is completely transparent.
Election Commission Requested 10 Days Time
The Election Commission informed the Supreme Court that it had filed a detailed affidavit clarifying all points related to the entire matter. However, the Commission requested the Court to grant it 10 days to file a separate reply on this issue. The Court accepted the Commission's request and granted the time. The Commission also stated that the petitioners' affidavits contained several incorrect and misleading pieces of information, which would be answered in detail.
Technical Error in Dropdown
Prashant Bhushan informed the Court that during the previous hearing, an affidavit was presented stating that a person's EPIC number (Electors Photo Identity Card) was not found. Later investigation revealed that the information was correct, but that person's name was not in the draft roll. His name was present in the January 2025 draft roll. Bhushan said that this error occurred due to a technical glitch in the dropdown menu. The next hearing in this matter will be on November 4.
Commission's Claim
The Election Commission stated in its affidavit that the petitioners are attempting to "mislead and obstruct" the voter list revision process in Bihar. According to the Commission, the affidavits filed by them contain false and fabricated facts. The Commission said that the petitioners' real objective is to disrupt this process not only in Bihar but also in other states.
Questions on Yogendra Yadav's Data Analysis
The Commission stated that social activist Yogendra Yadav used newspaper reports and self-created charts in his claims, which are not official documents. According to the Commission, this is a misuse of limited data to show that a large number of voters' names have been removed from the voter list.
Response to Allegations of Removing Muslim Voters' Names
The Commission stated that the petitioners misused 2011 census data, leading to an incorrect representation of population estimates. The Commission said that the allegations of removing Muslim voters' names are "communal and deplorable," as the Commission does not maintain any religion-based data for voters.
Number and Reasons for Removed Names
The Commission informed that the previous voter list had a total of 7.89 crore voters. Of these, 7.24 crore voters filled out verification forms, while 65 lakh did not. Investigations revealed that among these, 22 lakh people had died, 36 lakh had permanently moved to other locations, and 7 lakh names were registered in two places. During this process, 3.66 lakh names were removed, but all this was done after legal notices and hearings.
The Election Commission stated that errors involving some "peculiar" names were due to Hindi translation software. The information in the English records was correct, and all errors were checked by Booth Level Officers.
What is the Goal of Voter List Cleansing?
The Commission stated that complaints such as "fictitious house numbers" are also incorrect. House details are provided by the voters themselves, and temporary numbers are merely created to group families together. No new markings were used in SIR 2025. The Commission explained that the main objective of this process was the cleansing of the voter list, which has been successfully completed. The final voter list was released on September 30, 2025.
