New Delhi, 1 Sep

The Election Commission of India on Monday said claims, objections and corrections in the draft electoral roll prepared in the Bihar special intensive revision (SIR) exercise can be filed beyond 1 September, but the same would be considered once the electoral roll is finalised.

According to the 24 June schedule of the poll panel for the Bihar SIR, the deadline for filing claims and objections to the draft roll ends today, and the final electoral roll will be published on 30 September.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi noted the submission of the Election Commission (EC), which said claims and objections could be filed till the last date of nomination forms in each assembly constituency.

"As regards extension of time, a note submitted by the ECI says that filing of claims/objections or corrections is not barred after 1 September. It is stated that the claims/objections/corrections can be submitted even after the deadline, that is, after 1 September, and the same will be considered after the roll has been finalised," the bench noted.

The top court order further recorded, "The process will continue until the last date of nominations and all inclusions/exclusions are integrated in the final roll. In light of this stand, let the claims/objections/corrections be continued to be filed."

The bench then granted liberty to the political parties to submit their replies in response to the EC's note.

The top court also termed the confusion over the Bihar SIR as "largely a trust issue" and directed the state legal service authority to deploy paralegal volunteers to assist individual voters and political parties in filing claims and objections to the draft roll, which was published on 1 August.

The bench said the paralegal volunteers would submit a confidential report to the district judges concerned, and the collated data of the state would be considered on 8 September.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for EC, said the extension of timelines for filing claims and objections beyond 1 September would disrupt the entire schedule for finalisation of the electoral roll.

"The timelines have been fixed according to the rules, and a maximum time of thirty days has been provided for filing claims and objections," he said.

Dwivedi pointed out that according to the records, approximately 99.5 per cent of the 7.24 crore electors featured in the draft electoral roll for Bihar had already submitted their eligibility documents for the SIR exercise.

"The exercise of verification of these documents is currently ongoing, and is scheduled to be completed by 25 September, 2025, in accordance with the schedule provided in the SIR order dated 24 June, 2025," he said.

Dwivedi added that the assertion made by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of filing 36 claims through its booth-level agents was "incorrect and misleading" and the correct position, records showed, was only 10.

"However, as is admitted in the IA (interlocutory application), all 36 claims have been accepted by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and are being processed accordingly," Dwivedi said, pointing out that CPI (ML) filed 15 claims for inclusion and 103 objections for exclusion as on 31 August.

The senior lawyer submitted post the top court's 22 August order till 30 August, only 22,723 claims had been filed for inclusion, and 1,34,738 objections had been filed for exclusion.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Shoeb Alam urged the bench that for the 7.24 crore voters whose names featured in the draft electoral roll, an order should direct Aadhaar cards to be considered as an eligibility document for them.

The bench said it has already passed an order for acceptance of Aadhaar for 65 lakh deleted voters, but it cannot, by an order, enhance the status of Aadhaar provided under the statute.

"Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act is very clear that Aadhaar number is not evidence of citizenship or domicile," the bench told the counsel.

The bench, however, asked them to bring to its notice instances where Aadhaar was not considered in the case of excluded voters on the next hearing.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the RJD, said the EC was not following the prescribed procedure in the SIR exercise and urged the court to extend the deadline.

The bench said the EC has to follow the procedure prescribed in 24 June order related to Bihar SIR and expressed concern over high rate of objections filed for exclusion of names from the draft roll.

"Political parties need to activate themselves," it said and posted the matter for 8 September.

The RJD's plea filed through advocate Fauzia Shakil and the AIMIM through advocate Nizam Pasha have sought extension of the deadline to file claims and objections in the poll revision exercise in poll-bound Bihar.

The revision of the voters' list in Bihar -- the first since 2003 -- sparked a huge political row.

The SIR's findings reduced the total number of registered voters in Bihar, from 7.9 crore before the exercise to 7.24 crore after conducting it.