Supreme Court Upholds Bihar SIR: ECI Can Examine Citizenship, Must Report Deleted Names
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant upheld the constitutional validity of the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, ruling the exercise was legally sustainable and aimed at preserving the integrity and accuracy of the voter list.
The Supreme Court held that the SIR exercise was not unconstitutional merely because it differed procedurally from routine electoral roll revisions, and that measures adopted were not manifestly excessive or disproportionate.
Around 65 lakh names were removed from Bihar's draft electoral rolls during the SIR — comprising approximately 22 lakh declared deceased, 36 lakh permanently shifted or not found, and 7 lakh found to be duplicates.
The court categorically stated that the Election Commission's role is limited to determining voter eligibility; it cannot determine citizenship — which can only be adjudicated by a legally competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The ECI was directed to refer all cases where citizenship is in doubt to the competent authority within four weeks; if those individuals are determined to be citizens, they must be re-included in the electoral roll.
Article 324: Plenary Powers of the Election Commission
Article 324(1) of the Constitution vests the superintendence, direction, and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to Parliament and State Legislatures in the Election Commission of India. The ECI is a constitutional body, and its powers under Article 324 are considered plenary — meaning they operate to fill any voids in electoral law not covered by legislation.
The Court's upholding of the SIR squarely relies on Article 324(1)'s plenary grant to the ECI to revise electoral rolls, while simultaneously confining the ECI to eligibility determination and not citizenship determination.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR): Electoral Roll Revision Framework
Electoral rolls are prepared and revised under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RPA, 1950) and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The ECI may direct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of any constituency's electoral roll at any time for reasons on record — distinct from Summary Revision (routine annual update) and Intensive Revision (door-to-door enumeration). The qualifying date for the Bihar SIR was set as 1 July 2025.
The SIR's legitimacy was challenged as an "NRC-like" citizenship test; the Court rejected this framing, holding that removing ineligible voters is within the ECI's mandate, but citizenship determination belongs to authorities under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Citizenship Act, 1955: Citizenship Determination
Indian citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, enacted under Article 11 of the Constitution which empowers Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship. Citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, registration, or naturalisation. The determination of whether a person is a citizen is the exclusive domain of executive authorities designated under this Act — not the Election Commission.
The Court's direction that ECI must refer citizenship-doubtful cases to competent authorities within four weeks reaffirms the constitutional separation: voter eligibility (ECI) versus citizenship status (executive/judicial bodies under the Citizenship Act, 1955).
Right to Vote: Constitutional and Statutory Status
The right to vote in India is a statutory right (not a fundamental right), created by the Representation of the People Act, 1951. However, the right to free and fair elections is part of the basic structure of the Constitution, as held in Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975). Exclusion from an electoral roll is therefore a grave matter requiring procedural safeguards.
The Court balanced the right of eligible citizens to vote (accuracy through SIR) against the risk of wrongful deletion, mandating that citizenship queries be resolved by competent authorities with notice and hearing to the affected individual.
- Bihar SIR qualifying date: 1 July 2025
- Total names removed from draft electoral rolls: approximately 65 lakh
- 22 lakh: declared deceased
- 36 lakh: permanently shifted or not found
- 7 lakh: duplicate entries
- Bench: Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi, and Vipul M Pancholi
- Petitioner: Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and others
- ECI directed to refer citizenship-doubtful cases to competent authority within 4 weeks
- Governing law: Article 324(1) Constitution of India; Representation of the People Act, 1950; Registration of Electors Rules, 1960; Citizenship Act, 1955
- Landmark precedent cited: Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner (1978) — ECI powers under Article 324 are plenary