SC Seeks EC’s Clarification on Mass Voter Deletions in Bihar Electoral Roll

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide a detailed response by August 9 regarding the removal of approximately 65 lakh names from Bihar’s electoral rolls. The deletions were made as part of the Special Summary Revision (SIR) exercise, which published its draft rolls on August 1.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N. Kotiswar Singh issued the notice following a petition filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, the plea sought a booth-wise breakdown of the deletions, along with specific reasons for each — such as death, migration, duplication, or inability to trace the individual.

The Election Commission had earlier stated that the deletions included 22 lakh deceased voters, 36 lakh individuals who had migrated or were untraceable, and 7 lakh duplicate entries. While the list of deleted names was reportedly shared with political parties, the Commission has not made the reasons for deletion public. The court reiterated its earlier position that any arbitrary or wrongful exclusion of voters would not be tolerated.

The ECI also reported that 91.7% of Bihar’s 7.89 crore voters had submitted the required enumeration forms during the SIR drive — a record participation. However, concerns have been raised by opposition parties and civil society groups over the transparency and fairness of the process. Allegations have emerged that the deletions disproportionately impact migrants, the poor, and marginalised communities.

The Supreme Court scheduled further hearings for August 12 and 13, where it will assess the legality of the SIR process. Meanwhile, the ECI has allowed a claims and objections period until September 1, with the final voter roll set to be published by September 30.