No title shall be deleted with out discover, says ECI on Bihar SIR

The Election Fee of India (ECI) assured the Supreme Court docket on Saturday (August 9, 2025) that deletion of voters’ names within the Bihar draft electoral roll, revealed on August 1 as a part of the Particular Intensive Revision (SIR) train, can be completed solely after issuing prior discover indicating the grounds for the motion.

The ECI was responding to an utility filed by Affiliation for Democratic Reforms, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, in courtroom to direct the ballot physique to offer particular person particulars of the roughly 65 lakh names deleted from the draft electoral roll. The affidavit didn’t instantly handle this level raised by the NGO.

As a substitute, the fee mentioned its coverage can be adhere to the rules of pure justice by giving voters dealing with deletion a “cheap alternative of being heard and furnishing related paperwork”. The following order by the competent authority can be “a reasoned and talking” one.

“These safeguards are additional strengthened by a strong two-tier enchantment mechanism prescribed underneath the related guidelines, thereby making certain that each elector has enough recourse towards any hostile motion,” the EC mentioned in a further affidavit.

Sales space-level lists have been offered to political events, the EC assured. “To facilitate thorough scrutiny of the draft roll from August 1 to September 1, printed and digital copies of draft rolls have been made out there to political events, and on-line facility for the general public at massive,” the affidavit mentioned.

The ballot physique mentioned 2.5 lakh volunteers, principally Bihar authorities officers, have been deployed to help eligible voters acquire requisite paperwork from the assorted State departments to keep away from exclusion from the ultimate electoral roll.

“Accordingly, even in circumstances through which any susceptible elector doesn’t presently possess any doc, he/she can be facilitated within the technique of acquiring such paperwork. The Fee is taking each attainable step to make sure that eligible elector is just not excluded from the electoral roll,” the affidavit up to date concerning the ongoing claims and objections course of following the publication of the draft roll.

The ballot physique mentioned ads in Hindi have been issued setting out the timeframe and the style for submitting functions and taking part within the claims and objections interval in order to safe inclusion of the names of eligible voters earlier than the ultimate publication of the Bihar electoral rolls.

The EC mentioned it has accomplished the primary stage of the SIR, which has yielded “substantial progress”.

Repeated home visits have been made by the 77,895 Sales space Degree Officers (BLOs) to gather enumeration types to make sure no voter was left behind in Bihar. Provisions have been made for any of the over 1.6 lakh Sales space Degree Brokers (BLAs), appointed by “all main political events”, to submit as much as 50 enumeration types in a day, the EC mentioned.

Particular city camps in 261 city native our bodies to draw the eye of city voters and Hindi ads in 246 newspapers have been issued and Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union Territories have been requested to facilitate the web/bodily submitting of types to guarantee that no non permanent migrant from Bihar was neglected of the roll. Younger electors who attained the qualifying age as on October 1 are being wooed to enrol in particular campaigns scheduled for the claims and objections interval.