Supreme Court Demands Election Commission's Clarity on Bihar Voter List Omission

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to respond by August 9 to a new application from an NGO demanding transparency regarding 65 lakh voters excluded from Bihar's draft electoral roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, highlighted the absence of precise information on whether these voters are deceased or have migrated permanently. The court, led by Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N Kotiswar Singh, instructed the Election Commission to provide details of the deleted voters shared with political parties and make it available to the NGO.

The NGO has contested the June 24 directive of the poll panel calling for SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar. The Supreme Court is set to commence hearings on petitions challenging this directive on August 12-13. These petitions include concerns over new documentation requirements that may disproportionately impact marginalized voters, especially in rural Bihar.

(With inputs from agencies.)