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Bihar SIR: ADR alleges document falsification risk, EC Counters
The ECI states over 90% of Bihar's electors have already submitted filled-up enumeration forms

Bihar SIR: ADR alleges document falsification risk, EC Counters

Jul 26, 2025
06:36 pm

What's the story

The Supreme Court is set to hear a petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has defended its decision not to accept Aadhaar, Voter ID, and ration cards as standalone proof for SIR. The ECI argues these documents can be easily faked. However, the Association for Democratic Rights (ADR), which filed the petition, has countered this argument in a rejoinder submitted on Saturday.

Document dispute

ADR counters ECI's argument on document forgery

The ADR, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, argued that the 11 documents accepted by the ECI are equally vulnerable to forgery. They pointed out that these documents, including residence and caste certificates, exceed the total number of electors in Bihar's electoral rolls. The NGO also highlighted that Aadhaar is used as proof for obtaining several of these eligibility documents.

Affidavit details

What the ECI said in its counter affidavit

The ECI has filed a 789-page counter affidavit in response to the petition. The affidavit argues that complaints about electoral roll defects are mostly from BJP units in Delhi, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh. It claims these complaints do not involve Bihar's electoral rolls or illegal migrants being included anywhere in India.

Voter cleansing

Why ECI thinks Aadhaar can't be used

The ECI contends that the SIR is necessary to update the voter list due to migration, death and duplicate registrations. It cited Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 15 of the Representation of People Act, 1950 as legal grounds for conducting SIR. However, it reiterated that Aadhaar does not prove citizenship under these provisions but can supplement other documents proving eligibility.

Criticism response

Over 90% of Bihar's electors have submitted forms: ECI

The ECI has also responded to criticisms about the "exclusionary nature" of the SIR exercise, stating that over 90% of Bihar's electors have already submitted filled-up enumeration forms. For those not on the 2003 electoral roll, age-proof documents are required to establish eligibility. This legal requirement is based on Section 3 of the Citizenship Act for segregating age groups in enumeration forms.