SC to hear clutch of PILs on ECI's special electoral roll revision in Bihar

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up on Thursday a clutch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's ( ECI) decision to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

Senior lawyers Kapil Sibal, Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi and others mentioned the pleas for urgent hearing before a division bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi. The lawyers contended that voters who fail to submit the forms with the specified documents will face the harsh consequence of being deleted from the electoral roll, even if they have voted in elections for the last twenty years. "It is an impossible task," Sibal argued, urging the SC to issue a notice.

On the other hand, senior lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing on behalf of co-petitioners, argued that the state authorities are not accepting Aadhaar cards.

Singhvi argued that the timeline (July 25) is "so strict", adding that "8 crore is the electorate and 4 crore have to do the enumeration".

The bench verbally observed that the deadline "doesn't have sanctity as elections have not been notified as yet." The SC, however, agreed to list the pleas on July 10. The bench allowed the parties to give advance notice of the petitions to ECI. Several petitions have been filed in the top court challenging ECI's decision.