Bihar SIR: Claims, objections allowed after Sep 1 but only post-finalisation of roll, EC tells SC

The Supreme Court on Monday took note of the Election Commission of India’s submission that claims and objections to Bihar’s draft electoral roll will be accepted even after the September 1 deadline, but such applications will be considered only after the roll is finalised.

The Commission also clarified that claims, objections and corrections can be filed until the last date of nomination for elections. After recording the submissions, the court did not pass any order to extend the September 1 deadline.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi observed that confusion around the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was “largely a trust issue” and asked political parties to “activate themselves” to address concerns at the grassroots.

“Any extension of deadline will lead to disruption of the entire exercise and finalisation of final electoral roll," argued Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for EC.

The Election Commission told the apex court that 99.5 per cent of the 2.74 crore electors in the draft roll had already submitted eligibility documents, countering the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s claim that it had filed 36 applications. The Commission said the party had actually filed only 10, all of which had been “duly accepted.”

EC told the top court that notices would be issued within seven days to electors with incomplete documentation, describing the Special Intensive Revision as a “continuing exercise.”

The Election Commission also pointed out that most claims and objections filed by political parties so far were aimed at exclusion rather than inclusion of names in the rolls.

The bench, meanwhile, directed that para-legal volunteers file confidential reports with the respective district judges, which will be placed before the court on September 8.

Both the RJD and AIMIM have pressed for an extension of the deadline for claims and objections in Bihar’s electoral roll revision. The deadline for inclusion or exclusion requests expired on Monday.

On Friday, the bench had agreed to hear a plea by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) seeking an extension of the September 1 deadline for claims and objections. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for ADR, told the court that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and several other political parties had also sought an extension.

A similar petition was filed by Bihar MLA Akhtarul Iman. Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for him, submitted that while 80,000 claims were filed in the three weeks prior to the court’s earlier order, another 95,000 were submitted the following week.

Counsel informed the court that the Election Commission had already been approached for an extension but declined the request.

At the earlier hearing, the court had permitted voters not included in the draft rolls to apply online for inclusion, clarifying that physical submissions were not necessary. The bench had also said that the Election Commission could consider extending the deadline if it received an “overwhelming response” to the SIR process.

The court further reiterated that Aadhaar or any of the 11 identity documents listed by the Election Commission could be submitted with inclusion applications, while urging political parties to assist excluded voters in the process.