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The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday told the Supreme Court that nearly all eligible voters in Bihar had submitted their documents during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, even as political parties sparred over the process.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was informed by the poll panel that 99.5 per cent of Bihar’s 7.24 crore electors had furnished eligibility papers for the exercise. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, submitted in a note that verification of these documents was underway and would be completed by September 25, in line with the SIR schedule issued on June 24, news agency PTI reported.

ECI Counters Political Allegations

The Commission strongly contested the claims raised by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) [CPI-ML]. The poll body told the court, “In particular, it is submitted that apart from CPI-ML and RJD, none of the other recognised political parties have, either through their office bearers or validly appointed BLAs, assisted any elector out of the approximately 65 lakh whose names are not included in the draft electoral roll to submit Form 6 with declaration. None of the other recognised political parties have enabled filing of claims or objections in the prescribed format.”

The EC also pointed to its August 31 bulletin, noting that the overwhelming bulk of forms received were for deleting names rather than adding new ones. Out of 128 forms submitted by political parties, 103 sought deletions (Form 7) while only 25 related to inclusions (Form 6).

Individual Electors More Active

The Commission highlighted that individuals were more proactive than political groups. Citizens had themselves submitted 33,326 forms for inclusion and 2,07,565 forms for deletion. In addition, first-time voters — those who had recently turned 18 — filed more than 15.32 lakh applications for inclusion in the rolls.

With respect to the 65 lakh voters excluded from the draft rolls published on August 1, the EC reported receiving only 33,351 claims, mostly linked to deaths, permanent shifts, or duplicate entries. Following the Supreme Court’s order of August 22, between August 22 and 30, just 22,723 claims for inclusion and 1,34,738 objections for exclusion were filed.

No Extension of Deadline

Opposing the plea of RJD and AIMIM to extend the deadline for claims and objections beyond September 1, the Commission argued that such a move would derail the entire electoral roll schedule. It stressed that the period between September 1 and September 25 was earmarked for scrutinising claims, issuing notices, and responding to doubtful cases. “Thus, any extension of timelines will lead to disruption of the exercise and finalisation of electoral roll,” the EC told the bench.

However, it clarified that applications for claims, objections, or corrections submitted after the deadline would still be considered — but only after the roll is finalised. All such changes would be integrated until the last date for filing nominations, it said.

The Supreme Court directed political parties to file their replies to the EC’s note and posted the matter for September 8.

This SIR exercise has already reduced the size of Bihar’s voter base, bringing the number down from 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore. The ongoing revision, the first since 2003, has triggered intense political debate in the state.