NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has filed a compliance affidavit in the Supreme Court after publishing a list of 65 lakh voters excluded from the draft electoral rolls in Bihar following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The top court’s two-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi are scheduled to hear the matter on Friday, August 22, at 2 pm.At the earlier hearing on August 14, the court, while hearing petitions challenging the SIR exercise, directed the ECI to accept Aadhaar cards as valid proof of identity. The ruling is significant, as many voters have alleged that their Aadhaar details were ignored during the SIR process.The court will hear a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Bihar SIR exercise. It had also directed the ECI to publish district-wise lists of the approximately 65 lakh voters proposed for deletion from the draft rolls, along with reasons.“The transparency is needed about 65 lakh deleted voters to enable people to seek clarification or correction,” the court said.The bench instructed the ECI to host the lists on the websites of District Electoral Officers and the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer. The lists must specify reasons for deletion — such as death, migration or duplicate registration — and be searchable by EPIC numbers.The court further directed the ECI to issue public notices, clearly stating that excluded individuals may submit Aadhaar cards when filing claims for inclusion in the final rolls.The petitions were filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, Congress leader KC Venugopal and Mujahid Alam.The petitioners have sought to set aside the ECI’s June 24, 2025 order on the Bihar SIR.“Issue a writ, order or direction setting aside Order and Communication dated 24.06.2025 and accompanying guidelines issued by ECI to conduct SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar as being in violation of Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, 326 of the Constitution of India and provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1950 and Registration of Electors Rules, 1960,” ADR’s plea said.On July 28, the Supreme Court declined to stay the publication of the draft voters’ list on August 1, 2025, following the SIR exercise, and reiterated its direction to the ECI to consider including Aadhaar and voter ID cards to ensure statutory compliance.Earlier, on July 10, the vacation bench of the court refused to stay the Bihar voter list revision and asked the ECI to complete the process.
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