No stay on Bihar SIR, but SC asks EC to continue accepting Aadhaar, voter ID
No order without hearing both sides, says Supreme Court; hearing to continue tomorrow morning
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar saying it would once for all decide the pleas against the Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said it would fix on July 29, the time schedule to conduct the final hearing of the matter.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for an NGO, said the electoral rolls should not be finalised in the interim and there should be an interim stay on the publication of the draft rolls.
The bench observed the last order of the top court noted the petitioners not pressing for an interim relief and, therefore, it couldn't be done now and matter would be interpreted once for all.
It asked the poll panel to continue accepting Aadhaar and voter ID for the SIR exercise in Bihar in compliance with its order saying both documents had a "presumption of genuineness".
Earlier, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) claimed in a rejoinder to the petitions challenging the SIR that the enumeration forms, used for updating the electoral roll, were being mass uploaded by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) without the consent of voters.
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Live Updates
- 28 July 2025 2:12 PM IST
Go for inclusive measures, not exclusions: SC to EC
Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, said the SIR list is merely a draft. Justice Sanjiv Khanna pointed out that since it was provisional, any legal infirmities could still be addressed.
Sankaranarayanan urged the court to record that the revision process would remain subject to the outcome of pending petitions. However, Justice Khanna stated that such a declaration was implicit and did not require explicit mention.
Justice Khanna advised the EC to focus on inclusive measures rather than large-scale exclusions. He stressed that the approach should favour “en masse inclusion” of eligible voters, according to Live Law.
Previously, a vacation bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and AS Bopanna had observed that the task of determining citizenship falls under the Union government’s authority, not the EC’s. They had also recommended that Aadhaar, EPIC, and ration cards be considered valid for the ongoing revision process in Bihar.
- 28 July 2025 2:10 PM IST
SIR will inconvenience around 4.5 crore voters: ADR
The bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi did not hold a detailed hearing on Monday as the former has to attend an administrative meeting with CJI BR Gavai this 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 tomorrow.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing ADR, requested the court to halt the publication of the draft voters' list. He argued that the move could inconvenience approximately 4.5 crore voters. Sankaranarayanan emphasised that individuals excluded from the draft would then be burdened with the task of filing objections and seeking inclusion. He noted that no stay was requested on June 10, as the Court had agreed to hear the matter before the draft's release.
- 28 July 2025 2:04 PM IST
Aadhaar, EPIC have presumption of genuineness: SC in SIR hearing
The Supreme Court said it prima facie agreed with its earlier order, and the EC accepted in its counter affidavit that Aadhaar, voter cards and ration cards were required to be accepted.
“As far as ration cards are concerned, we can say they can be forged easily but Aadhaar and voter cards have some sanctity and have presumption of genuineness. You continue accepting these documents,” the bench said.
- 28 July 2025 1:52 PM IST
Bihar SIR: Any document can be forged, says SC
The SC questioned the EC over its reluctance to accept Aadhaar and Voter ID Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) as valid documents in the ongoing SIR in Bihar. Any document can be forged, said the apex court.
