New Delhi: The Supreme Court on August 22 directed that persons excluded from the draft electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar can submit their applications for inclusion through online mode, and physical submission of forms is not mandatory.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that an individual person, at their own or with the assistance of booth-level agents (BLAs) of a political party, is entitled to apply online and does not need to submit the application in physical form.
The bench also instructed the 12 recognised political parties in Bihar to direct their booth-level agents to assist voters in their respective booths with the submission of forms.
Expressing surprise, the bench noted that despite there being around 1.6 lakh BLAs in Bihar, only two objections have been submitted by them.
The court further observed submissions from some parties alleging that officials were not acknowledging objections raised by BLAs.
The bench said all 12 political parties in Bihar shall issue specific directions to party workers to assist people in filing and submission of requisite forms with any 11 documents in Form 6 or Aadhaar Card to get themselves included in the voters’ list.
It said BLAs of all political parties are directed to make an endeavour that approximately 65 lakh persons not included in the draft rolls are facilitated, except those who are dead or have voluntarily migrated, in submitting their objections by the cut-off date of September 1.
The court also impleaded the 12 registered political parties in the case.
The top court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel’s move to conduct SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Election Commission has also filed an affidavit stating that the list of names and details of 65 lakh electors in Bihar who were not included in the draft roll published on August 1 has been posted on the websites of all 38 District Electoral Officers in the state.
The list also contained the reasons for their non-inclusion, including death, shifting of ordinary residence or duplicate entries, ECI told the apex court.
ECI has stated that physical copies of the list are displayed in Panchayat Bhavans, block development offices, and Panchayat offices in villages across Bihar, allowing people easy access and enabling them to make enquiries.
Advertisements about the online availability of the lists had also been issued in major newspapers, on radio and television and posted on social media, said the poll panel.
ECI filed an affidavit in compliance with the August 14 directions of the Supreme Court directing it to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of approximately 65 lakh electors not included in the draft electoral roll during the ongoing SIR exercise in poll-bound Bihar.
ECI also informed the apex court that its public notices have expressly mentioned that copies of Aadhaar cards can be submitted along with their claims by voters aggrieved by non-inclusion in the draft Bihar electoral roll.
The top court was informed that approximately 65 lakh names were dropped from the draft roll despite the fact that their names had featured in the voters’ list prepared after a summary revision in January 2025.
The petitions challenging the ECI decision were filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PUCL, Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.
Meanwhile the ECI on Friday stated that they have received two claims and objections to the voter revision drive by political parties.
According to the press release, CPI (ML) Liberation is the only political party to file the claims between August 1 and August 22 evening.
The Commission has received 84,305 claims and objections directly from the electors, for the inclusion of eligible electors and exclusion of the ineligible ones. Out of these, the ECI has disposed of 6,092 claims and objects in the last seven days.
Additionally, the poll body has also received 2,63,257 Form 6+Declaration from new electors on attaining the age of 18 years or above.
According to ECI, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on 1st August 2025 without passing a speaking order by the ERO/AERO, after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity, the ECI said.
(With inputs from ANI)
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