Bihar SIR: RJD, AIMIM urge deadline extension to contest voter list

The Supreme Court announced on 29 August, Friday, that it will hear on 1 September the petitions filed by the RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) and the AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen) that seek more time for voters, BLAs (booth-level agents) and parties to submit claims and objections related to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, which is headed for assembly elections later this year.

As such, the date of the hearing coincides with the current deadline for filing such claims and objections — 1 September.

A bench comprised of justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi confirmed that the hearing would take place on Monday (1 September). The court's decision came after advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior counsel Shoeb Alam, representing the RJD, informed the bench that several applications had been filed requesting an extension of the deadline.

Nizam Pasha, representing the AIMIM, supported the need for more time due to the overwhelming number of claims being filed.

"The number of claims filed are exponentially rising. The deadline needs to be extended," Alam told the court.

Pasha noted that before the court’s 22 August order, approximately 80,000 claims had been filed. That number jumped to 95,000 after the order.

"We are requesting that these applications be listed as early as possible," Pasha added.

In response, the bench questioned why the petitioners had not approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) directly for this relief. Bhushan replied that they had indeed done so, but the requests were not being acted upon.

On 22 August, the Supreme Court had instructed the ECI to allow voters excluded from the rolls to submit their claims both online and in person.

Earlier, on 14 August, the court had ordered the poll body to disclose by 19 August segment-wise information about the 65 lakh voters left out of the draft rolls. The move was aimed at improving transparency in the revision process. The court had also, in July, urged the acceptance of Aadhaar cards as valid identity proof during this exercise.

This marks the first comprehensive voter list revision in Bihar since 2003.

The exercise has become politically charged, with the number of registered voters reportedly dropping from 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore following the ‘first phase’ of the SIR.