- Names of 65 lakh people removed from Bihar voter list must be uploaded on EC websites: Supreme Court
- The list must include reasons for deletion and be widely publicised in vernacular media, the court said
- Those wrongly removed can claim reinstatement with a copy of their Aadhaar cards
The names of 65 lakh people removed from the voter list in Bihar must be uploaded on the Election Commission websites along with the reason for deletion by Tuesday, the Supreme Court told the poll body today. The court also said this list must be publicised so that every voter can access it. In a key ruling, the court also said those whose names have been wrongly deleted can submit their claims along with a copy of their Aadhaar cards. This is significant because the petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision had flagged the exclusion of Aadhaar as proof and said this would affect many voters.
Hearing petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists in poll-bound Bihar, Justice Surya Kant noted that the Election Commission has said 22 lakh people out of the 65 lakh names struck off the list have died. "If 22 lakh people have died, why is it not disclosed at the booth level? We do not want citizens' rights to be dependent on political parties," he observed
In its order, the bench said, "We have briefly heard the Election Commission of India. During the course of hearing , the following steps are agreed: ECI will, as interim measure, take following steps: list of 65 lakhs voters whose names appeared in 2025 list but are not included in the draft list shall be displayed on the district level websites."
This list, the order said, must also mention the reason for deletion from the draft roll. "Wide publicity shall be given in vernacular language newspapers which has maximum circulation and it must be broadcast and telecast on Doordarshan and other channels. The district election officer, if they have a social media handle, shall display the notice there as well," it said.
"Aggrieved persons may submit their claims along with a copy of their Aadhaar cards. In addition, the booth-wise list of 65 lakh voters shall also be displayed on the noticeboard of all the panchayat bhawans and the Block development and panchayat offices so that people have manual access to the list," Justice Kant read out.
Earlier, Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked how many voters' names had been omitted in the draft list prepared after the Special Intensive Revision. Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll body, replied, "65 lakhs are not there, 22 lakhs are dead."
Mr Dwivedi stressed that no name has been deleted and anyone who is alive but his/her name has been deleted from the list on the grounds of death can approach poll officials to get this rectified.
"What we are asking is to be more transparent. We are saying that instead of this, put the entire data set on the website," Justice Bagchi said.
Justice Kant said political workers will have ideology, but "people must be able to independently check" their names online.
The bench said the complete data set must be online. "Anita Devi should know that if I go to this website, I will know how to get my name," Justice Kant said. The court also said that this list must be searchable and people should be able to access it by using their EPIC numbers. The case will be heard next on August 22.
