Bihar SIR Voter List: Supreme Court Orders EC to Release List of Deleted Voters by 19 Aug
The Supreme Court has issued an order to the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the case relating to the Bihar SIR Voter List. On 14 August, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi ordered the Election Commission to publish a booth-wise numbered list of all the voters that have been removed from the Bihar SIR Voter List released on 1 August. Around 65 lakh voters were excluded, hence, it is necessary to maintain transparency.
Also, the Election Commission will have to give the reason why each voter was removed. The reason can be anything from death, migration, untraceability, or duplicate registrations. The Supreme Court decided this considering that every eligible citizen must be able to exercise his/her right to vote. It will help in boosting public trust in the electoral process.
We have given a detailed overview regarding Supreme Court’s order relating to the Bihar SIR Voter List 2025 in this article. You the given Table of Contents to navigate as per your liking:
Table of Contents
‘People Have a Right to Know’
Justice Kant asked why the names of 22 lakh deceased voters in the Bihar SIR Voter List were not being disclosed. He also highlighted that families sometimes have no idea that their relative is marked as deceased as per the official records. The Bench directed the ECI to make the list available to public so that there is no doubt or misinformation in their minds.
Justice Bagchi pointed out the same thing, he said that transparency is important for voters’ confidence. The SC told ECI that all the citizens must be able to see their status without the hassle to contact political workers or booth-level officers.
Wide Public Display Ordered
The Supreme Court ordered that the Bihar SIR Voter List must be published on the websites of all District Electoral Officers along with the reasons for deletions. Apart from the online publication, it must be available at booth-level, block, and panchayat offices as well. The Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar was directed to host the list online whereas the ECI was ordered to publicise it through newspapers, radio, television, and social media. Also, there must be an option to search the list using the EPIC number so that it is easy to check the names in the Bihar SIR Voter List.
Aadhaar Accepted for Re-Inclusion
The Supreme Court also validated the use of Aadhaar Card for re-inclusion into the Bihar SIR Voter List. This is the first time when the Aadhar Card will be used as a valid proof of identity and residence.
Justice Kant said that even migrant workers who were wrongly marked as “dead” will be able to know this with the publication of the list. The most important point is that all this must be completed by 19th August 2025 and the proof of compliance must be submitted to the Supreme Court by 22 August.
Supreme Court judges mentioned that this case will be potentially used as the precedent for dealing with the cases relating to other states as well.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court’s intervention and the order to publicly release the Bihar SIR Voter List is seen as a good move to ensure transparency in election related procedures. This way, the voters will gain confidence in the elections. Also, it will rule out the chances of missing any eligible voters from the final voter roll.
Read our previous coverage on Bihar SIR Voter List, with detailed information on the process of special intensive revision (SIR) here.
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