The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls as per Special Intensive Revision (SIR) schedule in poll-bound Bihar but asked the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar, voter ID as identity proof during the exercise.As per the Election Commission’s SIR Order, the Draft Electoral Roll will be published on August 1, 2025. Printed as well as digital copies of each booth will be provided to all 12 political parties. The draft roll will also be available on the Chief Electoral Officer’s website for anyone to check.Noting that it would once for all decide the PILs against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said it would fix on July 29 the schedule for hearing the matter.Asking the poll panel to include Aadhaar and voter ID in the list of documents for identity proof, the Bench said that instead of mass exclusion, there should be mass inclusion in the electoral roll.“As far as ration cards are concerned we can say they can be forged easily but Aadhaar and voter cards have some sanctity and have presumption of genuineness…You will include these two documents…Wherever you find forgery, that’s on a case-to-case basis…Any document on earth can be forged,” Justice Kant told the EC advocate.On behalf of the EC, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said that the commission was accepting Aadhaar but with a supporting document.As senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing an NGO, said there should be an interim stay on the publication of the draft electoral rolls, the Bench pointed out that the petitioners chose not to press for an interim relief on the last date and that it couldn’t be done now as it intended to finally decide the matter.The Bench, however, said, “It does not take away our power. Trust us, as soon as we know anything is wrong, we will quash everything.”While hearing more than 10 petitions, including those by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, against SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, the top court had on July 10 asked the Election Commission to consider including Aadhaar, Voter I-Card, Ration Card as identity proof. Apprehending potential disenfranchisement of nearly three crore voters, several political parties/leaders have also moved the top court against SIR.However, in its affidavit filed in response to PILs challenging its June 24 order for SIR, the EC said Aadhaar, Voter I-Card and Ration Card can’t be accepted as “sufficient standalone documents for the purpose of screening of eligibility prescribed under Article 326”.The poll panel urged the top court to dismiss the petitions, saying they were based on newspaper articles and were aimed at drumming up the narrative of exclusion. It justified the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it added to the purity of the election by “weeding out ineligible persons” from the electoral rolls. It said all major political parties were involved in the SIR exercise and deployed more than 1.5 lakh booth-level agents to reach out to eligible voters even as they opposed it in the top court.In a rejoinder to the EC’s affidavit, ADR contended that the exclusion of Aadhaar and ration cards from the list of acceptable documents in SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar was “patently absurd” and that the Election Commission has given no valid reason for its decision.The EC had on June 24 ordered an SIR in Bihar — first since 2003 — to weed out ineligible individuals and ensure only eligible citizens were included in the electoral rolls. The exercise was necessitated by rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants, it said.
SC refuses to stay publication of Bihar draft electoral roll, but asks EC to accept Aadhaar, voter ID
