The Supreme Court on Monday recorded an undertaking by the Election Commission that objections or claims for exclusion or inclusion of names in the final voters’ list during the special intensive revision of rolls in poll-bound Bihar would continue till the last day of filing of nominations.
The apex court expressed surprise that most of the claims were for exclusion of names and wondered why the poll panel had still not included Aadhaar as one of the documents for verification despite several orders.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked aggrieved petitioners to produce before the court valid proof of the EC’s refusal to accept Aadhaar.
The top court also asked paralegal personnel of the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) to assist poll officials and political parties in expediting the process of updating the electoral rolls.
The court was dealing with interim applications (IA) moved by the RJD and the CPIML (Liberation) seeking extension of time for filing claims and objections.
The bench said: “…In response to the contents of these IAs, Rakesh Dwivedi, senior counsel for the Election Commission of India, has handed over a note in which the contents of each IA and the response of the Commission is mentioned.”
The bench added: “As regard to the extension of time for filing the claims/ objections, paragraph 11 of the note, in no uncertain terms, states that the filing of claims/ objections/ corrections is not barred after September 1, 2025. It is stated that the claims/ objections/ corrections can be submitted even after the deadline... and the same will be considered after the electoral roll has been finalised. It is further stated that the process of consideration of claims/ objections will continue until the last date of nominations and all inclusions and exclusions are integrated in the final roll,” the bench said.
“In light of this stand, let the filing of the claims/ objections/ corrections continue. Meanwhile, the political parties or the petitioners may file their affidavits in response to the note tendered by the ECI before the next date of hearing i.e. September 8, 2025, a copy of which has been handed over to them during the course of the hearing,” it added.
The court requested the chairman of the BSLSA to issue instructions, preferably by Tuesday noon, to all the District Legal Services Authorities to depute/ notify paralegal volunteers to assist the voters and political parties in submitting claims, objections and corrections online.
“Each paralegal volunteer shall thereafter submit a confidential report to the District and Sessions Judge, namely, the Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority. The information so collected from the paralegal volunteers may be collated at the level of the State Legal Services Authority for further consideration,” the court ruled.
Referring to frequent allegations of Aadhaar not being considered as a valid document by the EC, Justice Kant, heading the bench, said: “Through a court order, we can’t enhance the status of Aadhaar. Whatever value is attached to it by statute, along with judicial decisions, has to be accepted. How many times should we pass that order?”
“Why so much emphasis only on Aadhaar? Show us beyond 65 lakh (excluded voters), they are not accepting Aadhaar. Give examples and be ready on September 8. Let’s see if they (EC) don’t accept. Tell your political party to activate itself,” the bench told senior advocate Soheb Alam, appearing for one of the petitioners, while adjourning the matter.
EC senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi said 99.5 per cent of the 7.24-crore voters had filed their documents. He said most of the applications being filed now were “for deletion, not inclusion — something very strange!”
Officials told The Telegraph that many voters registered at multiple booths had filed applications to delete their registrations at the place where they no longer reside.
Dwivedi said apart from the RJD and the CPIML (Liberation), none of the other parties had assisted the voters in filing their forms, claims or objections.
He informed the court that of the 65 lakh excluded voters, only 33,326 had filed their objections. The RJD and the CPIML (Liberation) have together demanded that 25 names be added to the voters’ list, he added.
On the contrary, 1,34,738 applications have been filed for the exclusion of names on the grounds of death or migration, Dwivedi said.
An EC source said that existing rules and the SIR guidelines allowed for “continuous updation” of the electoral list. Names can be added until the last day of the filing of nominations and deleted until the tenth day from the announcement of polls, the source added.