'SIR adds to purity of elections,' EC tells SC, defending exercise in Bihar

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Monday told the Supreme Court that the special intensive revision of voters list being undertaken in Bihar adds to the purity of elections by weeding out ineligible persons and to restore public confidence in integrity of electoral rolls.

The poll panel also defended the exclusion of Aadhaar, EPIC, and ration cards in the list of documents for the purpose.

In an affidavit, it said, "The entitlement to vote flows from Article 326 read with Sections 16 and 19 of the Representation of People Act 1950 and Section 62 of the RP Act 1951 which contains certain qualifications with respect to citizenship, age, and ordinary residency. An ineligible person has no right to vote, and thus, cannot claim a violation of Articles 19 and 21 in this regard."

The 88-page affidavit was filed in terms of the Supreme Court's order in a batch of petitions filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms and others challenging the validity of the SIR exercise.

It submitted that the requirements sought in the declaration form flowed directly from the prescription of Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and cannot be challenged as arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair or unjust.

The EC's affidavit also stated that the contention that members of judiciary, public representatives, holders of declared offices and personalities from fields of arts, culture, journalism, sports, and public services, etc were given preferential treatment as their documents are being collected from home, is patently false and based on an erroneous understanding of the SIR Exercise.

It pointed out each and every existing elector, other than migrants who are temporarily absent from the State of Bihar, are provided with their pre-filled enumeration forms at their homes, by BLOs, in person.

"Any individual who is unable to submit an eligibility document by 26.07.2025, can do so in the claims and objections period. Thus, there is no discriminatory treatment meted out to ordinary voters as compared to the distinguished persons. Thus, the contention of violation of Articles 14 and 325, too, ought to be rejected," it said.

So far as Articles 19 and 21 are concerned, the EC said, no infringement can be alleged as the right to expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) and expressed by casting one's vote in favour of a candidate through exercise of free will is not restricted by the SIR exercise.

The poll panel also said EPIC by its very nature only reflected the current state of the electoral roll and cannot in itself establish antecedent eligibility in the electoral roll.

"The conceptual and procedural integrity of a de-novo revision would stand undermined if EPICs which are merely reflective of prior entries, are used to validate entries in a roll that is required to be constructed anew," it said.

The EC also said due to widespread existence of fake ration cards, it has not been included in the list of 11 documents to be relied upon for screening eligibility under Article 326. It also pointed out a bare perusal of Aadhaar card showed it contained a statutory disclaimer that it is just a proof of identity not of citizenship.

The affidavit also pointed out 90% electors have already submitted enumeration forms in the exercise, being undertaken after concerns were raised by political parties across the spectrum.

It also pointed out all political parties have been involved in exercises, as they appointed more than 1.5 lakh BLAs to work in tandem with BLOs, in reaching out to each eligible elector.