Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in the Election Commission’s planned release of Bihar’s preliminary voter list on August 1.
The two-judge panel of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi conducted a brief hearing, as Justice Kant needed to participate in a scheduled administrative discussion with the Chief Justice.
Petitioners’ claim
Earlier, the petitioners claim the process could result in the mass deletion of legitimate voters and accuse the poll panel of launching a “drastic and rushed” exercise without adequate transparency. They argue that this revision may severely impact electoral participation and fairness.
In its defence, the EC has asserted that the SIR is a legitimate and necessary step to clean up the electoral rolls. According to its affidavit, over 1.5 lakh booth-level agents from various political parties were engaged in the process to ensure transparency.
The Commission maintains that the revision is aimed at removing ineligible or duplicate names and correcting entries.
Earlier hearing
In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court had advised the EC to consider accepting Aadhaar cards, ration cards, or previously issued voter ID cards as valid identification for voter verification.
However, the EC has maintained in its response that no one can be added to the voter list solely based on these documents, as verification must comply with legal protocols.
