Supreme Court Refuses to Halt Bihar Voter List Publication; Urges Aadhaar & EPIC Consideration

The Supreme Court on Monday (July 28) refused to stop the Election Commission of India from publishing the draft electoral rolls for Bihar on August 1 as per the schedule notified for the Special Intensive Revision.

The bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi did not hold a detailed hearing today as Justice Kant had to attend an administrative meeting with the CJI afternoon. Assuring the petitioners that the matters will be heard at the earliest, Justice Kant asked the lawyers to submit the tentative times required for argument tomorrow.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the Association for Democratic Reforms, urged the bench to stop the notification of the draft list, saying that it is going to inconvenience about \"4.5 crores\" of voters. Once the draft list is published, the persons excluded will have to take steps to file objections and to seek inclusions, he added. The prayer for stay was not made on June 10 since the Court agreed to hear before the date of draft publication, he pointed out.

Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the Election Commission, submitted that it was only a draft list.

Justice Kant said that it was, after all, a draft list and said that the Court can ultimately strike down the entire process if any illegality was found. Sankaranarayanan then requested Justice Kant to make an observation that the process will be \"subject to the outcome of the petitions.\" Justice Kant said that such an observation was not necessary as it was understood.

During the brief hearing, the petitioners also told the bench that the ECI was violating, on the ground, the Supreme Court's advice made as per its July 10 order to consider Aadhaar cards, Electoral Photo Identity Cards and Ration Cards. Dwivedi said that in its counter affidavit, the ECI has raised its reservations about these documents. As far as ration cards, there are several fake cards issued, he added.

The bench verbally told the ECI to consider at least the statutory documents of Aadhaar and EPIC.

\"There's presumption of correctness with official documents, you proceed with these 2 documents. You will include these two documents (Aadhaar and EPIC)...Wherever you find forgery, that's on case-to-case basis. Any document on the earth can be forged..\", Justice Kant orally told the ECI's counsel.

Justice Kant further impressed upon the ECI that instead of \"en masse exclusion\", there should be, \"en masse inclusion.\"

Earlier, a vacation bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Bagchi had orally commented that the determination of citizenship was not the function of ECI and that it was the prerogative of the Union Government. The bench had also urged the ECI to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID and Ration cards in the Bihar SIR process.

Background

Vide an order dated June 24, 2025, the Election Commission of India initiated a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar in exercise of powers under Section 21(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1950.

The petitions challenging ECI's order were listed on July 10 before a partial Court working days bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi, after an urgent mentioning was made. On the said date, the Court noted that the petitions raised an important issue which went to the root of democracy - the right to vote - and asked asked ECI to consider Aadhaar Card, Voter ID card and ration card also as acceptable documents for the SIR.

Further, the bench raised concerns about voters being asked to furnish documents at short notice and about the legal authority of the ECI to seek proof of citizenship. At the same time, it recorded ECI's submission that the list of 11 documents specified by it in its June 24 order as acceptable documents to prove citizenship was illustrative and not exhaustive. The petitioners did not press for interim relief then as the next hearing was scheduled for July 28, that is, before publication of the draft electoral roll (August 1).

Subsequently, ECI filed its counter-affidavit before the Supreme Court, stating that Aadhaar, Voter ID and Ration cards are not reliable documents for inclusion in the electoral roll during the ongoing SIR in Bihar, since the process is a fresh revision of the electoral rolls. The ECI also defended its authority to seek proof of citizenship, stating that it is statutorily bound to ensure that only citizens of India are registered as voters.

In response to ECI's counter, ADR filed a rejoinder, alleging that enumeration forms of voters, which are used to update the electoral rolls, are being mass-uploaded by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) without the consent of voters, to meet the \"unrealistic\" timelines set by ECI. Relying on ground reports of senior journalist Ajit Anjum, ADR further stated that in some cases, enumeration forms of even dead persons are being submitted, and ECI guidelines are being violated.

The petitions are filed by opposition leaders KC Venugopal (INC), D Raja (CPI), representatives of the DMK, Harinder Malik (Samajwadi Party), Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena UBT), Sarfraz Ahmed (JMM), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML), Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), activist Yogendra Yadav, MLA Akhtarul Imam (AIMIM), activist Arshad Ajmal, Lok Sabha MP Sudhakar Singh (RJD), Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, Lok Sabha MPs Thol. Thirumavalavan and D Ravikumar, Kerala MLA PK Kunhalikutty, former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam, Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, and organizations such as the Association for Democratic Reforms, PUCL and National Federation for Indian Women.

Among other things, the petitioners contend that the SIR process is hasty and likely to disenfranchise crores, especially Muslims, Dalits, and poor migrants. Further, they challenge the shift of burden from the State to the citizen to prove their eligibility and point to the exclusion of Aadhaar and ration cards, even though Aadhaar has a wide use in Bihar and was accepted for the 2024 General Elections.

It is argued that in Bihar, a state with high poverty, illiteracy, and migration, the ECI-mandated documents, such as passports, birth certificates, matriculation certificates, permanent residence certificates, and others, are not widely available. The petitioners also claim that this is the first time when the ECI is asking people who have voted multiple times to prove their eligibility, failing which their names may be deleted.

Some of the petitions state that the SIR violates Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Rule 21-A of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, both of which require adequate procedural safeguards. As an interim measure, the petitioners seek immediate stay on the SIR exercise and suggest that ECI can use the electoral rolls as updated in January this year.

Case Title: ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS AND ORS. Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 640/2025 (and connected cases)