Bihar SIR: EC To Consider Claims Beyond Sept 1 Deadline

New Delhi - In the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) case, the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Supreme Court on Monday that voters can continue to file claims and objections to the draft electoral rolls even after the September 1 deadline. The Commission assured that all such claims or objections filed before the last date of nominations will be considered. Taking note of this, the Court did not extend the September 1 deadline, as sought by political parties. As reported by Bar & Bench and Live Law

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi recorded the ECI’s submission that claims, objections, and corrections can be submitted after September 1, and they will be considered after the roll has been finalised. The process will continue until the last date of nominations, with all inclusions and exclusions integrated into the final roll.

The Court directed the Executive Chairman of the Bihar State Legal Services Authority to ensure that district legal services authorities notify para-legal volunteers, along with their names and mobile numbers, to assist individual voters and political parties in filing claims and objections online. These volunteers will later submit confidential reports to district judges, which will be collated at the state level.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, submitted that most objections from political parties were for deletion of names rather than inclusion, which he termed “very strange.” He said that 99.5% of the 7.24 crore voters had submitted forms. Out of 65 lakh excluded voters, only 33,326 individuals and 25 claims from political parties had applied for inclusion, while 1,34,738 objections had been filed for exclusion.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that ECI officials were not following their own manuals, while Advocate Nizam Pasha claimed that booth-level officers were refusing to accept forms. Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam, for the RJD, said the Aadhaar-based inclusion process had only nine days before the deadline. Dwivedi countered that discrepancies in documents would be notified within seven days and that political parties had submitted very few claims.

The Court noted that despite its directions, only 100–120 names were being brought forward. It expressed concern about the lack of transparency and asked that para-legal volunteers be deployed to help voters. The Court also pointed out that if, beyond the 65 lakh excluded voters, Aadhaar submissions were not being accepted, the matter could be raised again when the case is heard next on September 8.

The Court’s order stated that claims and objections would continue to be accepted beyond September 1, up to the last date of nominations, and asked political parties to file their responses to the note submitted by the ECI. It also ordered the deployment of para-legal volunteers to assist voters and political parties in filing online claims, objections, and corrections.