Revision of Electoral Rolls in Bihar | Arguments Matrix

On 29 January 2026, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi reserved Judgement in the challenge to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. Under the SIR, the ECI sought voters in Bihar to submit 11 documents along with Enumeration Forms. The objectives of the ECI in conducting the exercise was to delete duplicate voters, dead voters, migrated voters and illegal foreigners from the list. The last SIR was conducted in 2003.

The Court began hearing the challenge in July 2025, and concluded after 29 days of arguments.. The challenge, initiated by the Association for Democratic Reforms,  People’s Union for Civil Liberties, analyst Yogendra Yadav and several political parties, questioned the legality of the SIR. They questioned the ECI’s authority to conduct the exercise under ECI’s exercise of “plenary power” under Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RP Act). They expressed concerns that the SIR would disenfranchise voters in Bihar and that the purification of the electoral roll was a citizenship test.

Petitioners argued that the SIR subverts the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 (Electors Rules), and risks systemic disenfranchisement of marginalized groups. Conversely, the ECI defended the exercise as a necessary “purification” of the rolls necessitated by two decades of demographic shifts. It contended that its constitutional duty under Article 324 to ensure a citizen-centric franchise permits the adoption of “special” procedures to address millions of bogus entries. 

In this matrix, we have summarised the key points of contention. For a more nuanced breakdown of each argument, do go through our detailed hearing reports.