The Election Commission has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court ahead of the hearing on SIR (Systematic Voter Registration). The Commission informed the Supreme Court that SIR would soon be implemented across the entire country after Bihar.
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) recently filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, announcing that the SIR (Systematic Identification of Voters) process would soon be initiated nationwide. The Commission clarified that only citizens of India have the right to vote, and it is the constitutional responsibility of the Commission to ensure an error-free electoral roll.
In its response to the Supreme Court, the Election Commission stated that after the completion of the SIR process in Bihar, it would be implemented across the entire country. They also clarified that the Aadhaar card is solely for identification purposes and cannot be considered proof of citizenship. This affidavit made it clear that only citizens of India would have the right to vote in the upcoming elections.
3.66 Lakh Names Removed from Bihar's Electoral Roll
The Supreme Court had previously instructed the Election Commission to provide the court with details of the 3.66 lakh voters removed from the final electoral roll after the SIR process in Bihar. The Election Commission informed the court that most of the names added after the publication of the draft electoral roll on August 30 belong to new voters. So far, no voter removed from the list has filed any complaint or appeal.
The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued this directive after some petitioners, including leaders from opposition parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), stated that the Election Commission had not provided any reason or notice for removing voters from the final list.
The bench is currently hearing petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision of June 24, 2025, to conduct SIR in Bihar. The court directed that all available information regarding excluded voters be brought into the court's record by October 9, so that necessary data can be presented through comparative analysis.
SIR, which stands for Systematic Identification of Voters, aims to keep the electoral roll error-free and updated. It ensures that only genuine and eligible voters participate in elections. According to the Election Commission, this process is crucial not only for Bihar but for the entire country.
