Revision of Electoral Rolls in Bihar | Day 2: Supreme Court reiterates suggestion to include Aadhaar card
Challenge to the ECI’s Revision of Electoral Rolls in BiharJudges: Surya Kant J, Joymalya Bagchi J
Over two weeks after the Supreme Court took up preliminary arguments on the validity of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls in Bihar, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi took up the matter.
The case was first heard on 10 July by a Partial Working Day Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Bagchi. In that hearing, the Court had pushed the Election Commission of India to consider the inclusion of the Aadhaar card, the Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and the Ration Card. The Order stated that the ECI considered these documents “in the interest of justice”.
As for the SIR exercise, the deadline to submit enumeration forms concluded on 25 July 2025. Reportedly, 66 lakh voters may not make it to the draft electoral rolls, which is scheduled to be released on 1 August.
Petitioners: ECI has refused to consider Aadhaar
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan appeared for the Association of Democratic Reforms. He argued that the ECI’s counter affidavit “unequivocally” refused to include the Aadhaar card as a document for the SIR. This was violative of the Court’s 10 July Order. “Twice you have used the expression in complete justice,” he stated.
Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appeared for the ECI. He submitted that there was “difficulty” in accepting a Ration Card as a document, referring to the high volume of Ration Cards that have been issued. For the EPIC card, he submitted that the enumeration form includes the EPIC number. However, since the electoral roll was being revised, the EPIC card will not be conclusive. Justice Bagchi pointed out that none of the documents listed in the SIR notification are conclusive. “They are documents to accompany the enumeration form,” he added. Thus, if the Aadhaar is provided with the enumeration form, it should be considered. Justice Kant concurred, observing that the recommended documents are “a kind of presumption of correctness”. “So proceed with these two documents,” he said. Dwivedi asserted that the Aadhaar Act itself states that the card is not a proof of citizenship. The voters could provide “something else” with the Aadhaar.
Petitioners: Electoral Roll should not be finalised before arguments
Sankaranarayanan pushed for an interim stay on the publication of the rolls. Justice Kant, however, did not entertain this plea. He pointed out that the Court’s 10 July Order made it “very clear” that the petitioners are not seeking an interim stay. Sankaranarayanan clarified that the petitioners opted out of the prayer because the case was listed before the publication of the draft rolls. Justice Kant assured, “We will quash everything once we agree with you.”
Justice Kant stated that the matter will be decided at the earliest, based on the time split provided by the parties. Justice Bagchi added that the draft list will include all names that were included in the January 2025 List, which was prepared during the summary revision. “Even if the enumeration forms are not uploaded with the relevant documents, they are going to put up the names with the objections,” he said.
The Bench directed the parties to provide a time split among the counsel, i.e. how long each of them will argue. This was to be submitted by tomorrow (29 July). Based on this, the Bench will fix a date for final arguments.