Bihar “SIR:” SC told ECI to Aim for “Mass Inclusion” and Not “En Masse Exclusion” in Roll Revision

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, July 28: While the opposition INDIA bloc continued to protest both inside and outside Parliament against the “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR) exercise of the electoral rolls in Bihar, the Supreme Court on Monday told the Election Commission of India (ECI) that the revision of electoral rolls should aim at “mass inclusion” and not “en masse exclusion” of the voters.

In the light of the reports that a large number of genuine voters in Bihar were unable to produce any of the 11 documents sought by the ECI for identity verification, the court again insisted on the ECI to accept the Aadhaar card and the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) which was issued by the ECI itself, as valid documents.

On July 10, the apex court had asked the ECI to consider these three documents to ward off the spectre of mass disenfranchisement even as petitioners, ranging from activists to political parties, called the SIR a “citizenship screening.”

With three more days left for the publication of the draft electoral roll on August 1, the ECI, however, continued to resist the court’s suggestion, saying Aadhaar, EPIC, and ration cards could be forged easily, but the court disagreed.

The court pointed out that the risk of forgery – which was what the Commission had cited to rule out the three crucial documents including ration card – could happen for any of the 11 it had allowed. “There’s presumption of correctness with official documents, you proceed with these 2 documents. You will include these two documents (Aadhaar and EPIC). Wherever you find forgery, that’s on case-to-case basis. Maybe one EPIC in a thousand may not be genuine. That can be taken up on a case-to-case basis… For that matter, any document on this Earth can be forged,” Justice Surya Kant, accompanied by Justice Joymalya Bagchi, addressed the ECI.

Justice Kant said Aadhaar and EPIC have a “presumption of correctness”. Aadhaar has a system of being authenticated when in use. EPIC was issued by the ECI itself. “So, proceed with Aadhaar and EPIC… Include these two documents in the list of 11,” Justice Kant said.

Justice Bagchi reasoned that none of the 11 ‘indicative’ documents acceptable as proof of identity were of a conclusive nature, be it residence or caste certificates. “According to you none of the 11 documents are conclusive. They are just documents to accompany the enumeration forms. So, if someone gives an Aadhaar card as proof of identity, why will you not evaluate the claim of the person to be in the electoral roll?” Justice Bagchi questioned the ECI’s logic.

Senior advocates K.K. Venugopal and Rakesh Dwivedi appeared for the ECI. The petitioners were represented by senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal and Gopal Sankaranarayanan. The court, though, refused to stop the publication of the draft rolls on August 1, making it clear that the final outcome would be subject to the decision on the appeals pending in the court.

The two-judge bench of Justice Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi did not hold a detailed hearing on Monday as Justice Kant had to attend an administrative meeting with the Chief Justice of India in the afternoon. Assuring the petitioners that the matters will be heard at the earliest, Justice Kant asked the lawyers to submit the tentative times required for argument by Tuesday. The court said it would announce on Tuesday an early date and a proper schedule for hearing the final arguments in the case.

Mr Sankaranarayanan alerted the Bench about the proximity of the date of publication of the draft roll, August 1. But Justice Kant was unperturbed, saying, “It was only a draft.” Noting that the petitioners had not insisted on any interim relief of the stay of the publication or a freeze on the SIR exercise, the judge assured the petitioners that publication of the draft roll would not shrink the powers of the court to overturn any decision of the ECI, provided the petitioners prove their case.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Association for Democratic Reforms – one of the petitioners in the case – pressed for a stay, contending that it would inconvenience nearly 4.5 crore people as those excluded will have to wade through massive paperwork to seek inclusion.

Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, requested the court not to interfere as it was only a draft list. Justice Surya Kant said the court can ultimately strike down the entire process if any illegality was found.

The petitioners had told the top court that the Commission was violating a previous order of the Supreme Court which had suggested that it consider Aadhaar cards, Electoral Photo Identity Cards and Ration Cards. The Commission, however, said it has already flagged its reservations about these documents, citing several fake ration cards. The bench, however, verbally told the Commission again to consider at least the statutory documents of Aadhaar and EPIC.

The senior lawyer said the publication of the draft roll would leave the 4.5 crore people excluded from it rudderless. The burden would be transferred onto them to prove their identity and citizenship, file objections, and even seek a review.

At this point, Justice Bagchi drew the counsel’s attention to the ECI’s affidavit, which stated that voters who were in the existing 2025 electoral roll of Bihar would feature in the draft roll to be published on August 1, provided they submitted their enumeration forms, with or without documents.

The existing electoral roll was published in Bihar on January 7, 2015 after a special summary revision of the electoral roll. “In substance, each elector included in the 2025 electoral roll shall form part of the draft roll merely on submission of the enumeration form,” the 88-page ECI affidavit had submitted.

The electors who were unable to submit their enumeration forms with documents in time for the draft roll had another opportunity to be included in the final roll. “This claims period is stipulated for another period of 31 days after publication of the draft roll, i.e., till September 1, 2025,” the ECI clarified. The final roll would be published on September 30, 2025.

“Even after the publication of the final roll, new electors can be enrolled up to the last date of nominations of the forthcoming Bihar elections… Any apprehension of huge disenfranchisement is misleading and non-existent,” the ECI has assured.

Further, the ECI said electors whose names already feature in the electoral roll of Bihar in 2003, when the previous intensive revision was held, were exempted from furnishing documents to prove their eligibility. “They are only required to file the partially pre-filled enumeration form along with the extract of the 2003 roll,” the affidavit had said.