The Election Commission of India (ECI) assured the Supreme Court on Saturday (August 9, 2025) that deletion of voters’ names in the Bihar draft electoral roll, published on August 1 as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, would be done only after issuing prior notice indicating the grounds for the action.
The ECI was responding to an application filed by Association for Democratic Reforms, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, in court to direct the poll body to provide individual details of the approximately 65 lakh names deleted from the draft electoral roll. The affidavit did not directly address this point raised by the NGO.
Bihar SIR: Supreme Court assures intervention if draft electoral roll reveals ‘mass exclusion’ of voters
Instead, the commission said its policy would be adhere to the principles of natural justice by giving voters facing deletion a “reasonable opportunity of being heard and furnishing relevant documents”. The subsequent order by the competent authority would be “a reasoned and speaking” one.
“These safeguards are further reinforced by a robust two-tier appeal mechanism prescribed under the relevant rules, thereby ensuring that every elector has adequate recourse against any adverse action,” the EC said in an additional affidavit.
