NEW DELHI – On Monday, July 28, 2025, the Supreme Court refused to give an interim order stopping the publishing of the draft electoral rolls for Bihar, which is set to happen on August 1. However, the Supreme Court gave the Election Commission of India (ECI) strong oral orders, making it clear that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) must aim for “en masse inclusion, not exclusion.” The court also told the ECI to think about accepting Aadhaar and Voter ID (Election Photo Identity Card or EPIC) as valid documents for verification.
The ECI must move forward with the knowledge that both Aadhaar and Voter ID cards are “presumed to be genuine,” according to a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi.
These verbal orders were given at the hearing of petitions from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and other groups that were against the ECI’s June 24 notification. This notice started the SIR for Bihar under Section 21(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1950.
Gopal Sankaranarayanan, a senior lawyer with ADR, asked the court to stop the publication of the draft rolls, saying that the process could hurt roughly 4.5 million voters. He said, “Once the draft is out, it’s up to voters to file objections and ask to be included.”
Senior lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi, who was representing the ECI, said that the August 1 list was just a draft and that people may still “additions and corrections” during the claims and objections period.
The bench agreed with the ECI’s argument, saying that the court could always step in later if it uncovered any wrongdoing in the process. Sankaranarayanan asked for a formal note that the whole exercise would depend on the outcome of the ongoing petitions. The court said that this was “understood” and did not need to be written down.
Kapil Sibal, a senior attorney representing one of the petitioners, told the court that ECI officers on the ground were apparently refusing to accept Aadhaar and Voter ID, even though the court had told them to do so on July 10. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a senior lawyer for Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, said the same thing: “The impression on the ground is that EC officials are not accepting Aadhaar and EPIC cards despite the court’s previous directions.”
Dwivedi said that the ECI had expressed concerns about the reliability of some papers, including Aadhaar and ration cards, because they are easy to falsify.
After hearing these arguments, the Supreme Court told the ECI over the phone to think about using Aadhaar and EPIC as legitimate papers to check if someone is eligible to vote. The bench strongly advised the ECI to be careful while removing names. “Official documents are assumed to be correct. You go forward with Aadhaar and EPIC. You can take action on a case-by-case basis when you find forgery. It’s possible to falsify any document on this planet. The court stressed that you should not be excluding people all at once but rather including them all at once.
The ECI’s notice on June 24 said that 11 papers were acceptable for establishing citizenship during the SIR. These included birth certificates, matriculation certificates, passports, and certificates of permanent residency or domicile. It was especially important that Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and ration cards were not included because they are easy to falsify.
The petitioners in front of the Supreme Court, which include opposition heavyweights like Congress MP KC Venugopal and RJD MP Manoj Jha, say that the ECI’s insistence on only the 11 required documents is not backed by law and could lead to a lot of people losing their right to vote. They have also asked the ECI if it has the right to make such a big change and ask for confirmation of citizenship, which they say is only the job of the Union government.
In its affidavit filed this week, the ECI said it was able to ask people who claim citizenship by birth to provide documentation for the electoral roll. It argued that its powers are limited to examining the acquisition of foreign citizenship.
The Supreme Court has said before that the issue “goes to the root of the functioning of the democratic republic” and has to do with the right to vote. In an earlier hearing on July 10, another panel of the court said it would look into three main issues: the ECI’s authority to conduct the SIR, how it was being done, and when it was being done, especially because the Bihar Assembly elections were coming up. As Bihar gets ready for elections later this year, people will keep a close eye on the case.