The Supreme Court is set to hear on July 10 a batch of petitions concerning the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to undertake Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of upcoming elections. The case has drawn national attention due to its potential implications for electoral integrity and political participation.
A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi on Tuesday directed petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay to rectify procedural defects in his plea seeking urgent listing of his petition, which will now be heard alongside other pending petitions on July 10.
Upadhyay’s petition seeks a direction to the Election Commission to conduct SIR of electoral rolls not only in Bihar but across the country, especially ahead of parliamentary, assembly, and local body elections. He contended that such revision is critical to prevent participation of “illegal foreign infiltrators” in the democratic process.
Citing demographic changes in approximately 200 districts and 1,500 tehsils since independence, the plea alleged that illegal infiltration, religious conversions, and population explosion have distorted electoral rolls. “Demography is destiny, and dozens of districts have already seen their destiny being shaped by those who aren’t Indians,” the petition reads.
Upadhyay argued that a Special Intensive Scrutiny is constitutionally necessary to ensure that only genuine citizens vote in Indian elections, asserting that the ordinary electoral roll revision process is inadequate to address such serious irregularities. He emphasized that even a marginal discrepancy of 2,000–3,000 votes per constituency in Bihar, which has 243 assembly seats, can significantly alter election outcomes.
Meanwhile, the ECI’s decision to conduct the SIR in Bihar has also been challenged by a joint petition filed by several opposition leaders, including Congress’ K C Venugopal, NCP (Sharad Pawar)’s Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant, Samajwadi Party’s Harinder Singh Malik, JMM’s Sarfraz Ahmed, CPI’s D Raja, and CPI (ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya. Individual petitions have also been filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.
These leaders have sought the quashing of the ECI’s order directing SIR in Bihar, alleging that the move could result in exclusion of genuine voters and affect the fairness of elections.
The Supreme Court’s scheduled hearing on July 10 will consider both the pleas in support of and against the SIR initiative, setting the stage for a key judicial pronouncement on the electoral revision process in India.
