The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that no voter’s name from the draft voter list in Bihar will not be removed without issuing prior information, hearing opportunity and logical order.
The Election Commission also said that under the statutory structure, it does not need to publish a separate list of the names of those not included in the draft voter list, or for any reason, there is no need to publish the reasons for not inclusion of anyone in the draft voter list.
The Election Commission filed an additional affidavit in the apex court on Saturday, which a few days ago it released the much awaited draft voter list in Bihar, including the names of 7.24 crore voters, but more than 65 million names were removed, and claimed whether most of the people concerned had died or migrated.
In addition, the Election Commission also filed its reply on the application filed by the petitioner, demanding a directive to the Election Commission that it should publish a full and final list of the names and details of about 65 lakh voters of the assembly constituency and the part/booth -wise, whose calculation forms were not submitted, as well as the reasons for them.
The bench headed by Justice Suryakant is hearing petitions against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Election Commission of the voter list in Bihar.
In its additional affidavit, the Election Commission said that the first phase of SIR has been completed and the draft of the voter list has been duly published on 1 August.
It said, “It is further presented that the work of removing the name of any voter from the draft voter list published on August 1, 2025, following the principles of policy and natural justice strictly, will not be done without the following: (i) To issue prior information to the concerned voter, (i) to present the proposed information, (ii) to present the proper information, (ii) to present the proper opportunity, and (IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII to Passing a logical and clear order by the authority. “
It states that these safety measures have been further strengthened by the strong two-tier appeal mechanisms set under the respective rules, ensuring that each voter has enough support against any adverse action.
The Election Commission said that strict instructions have been issued by the competent authority to prevent the removal of the names without notice and order to ensure that no name is removed from the draft nominees, and an appeal has been made for an appeal under Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
The Election Commission said that it is taking every possible step to ensure that no eligible voter is deprived of voter list.
In its separate reply, the Election Commission said, “It has been presented that under the statutory structure, the defendant (Election Commission) does not need to publish a separate list of names of those not included in the draft voter list, or for any reason, there is no need to publish the reasons for not inclusion of anyone in the draft voter list for any reason.”
It states, “Since neither the law nor the guidelines make provisions to prepare or share a list of such former voters, whose calculation form has not been received during the calculation phase for any reason, there is no such list as a right in the petition.”
The Election Commission said that the removal of the name of a person from the draft voter list does not mean removing the name of a person from the voter list. It states that the draft list only shows that the currently filled calculations of the existing voters have been received during the calculation phase.
It states, “But, due to human involvement in this mass execution, there is always a possibility that inadvertence or error may cause exclusion or inclusion.”
The Election Commission said that before the publication of the draft voter list, it had instructed the CEO and others to share the list of persons at the booth level with political parties whose calculation forms have not been received for any reason and seek their help to reach them.
It alleged that the petitioner’s approach is in line with its earlier efforts to discredit the Election Commission by creating false narratives on digital, print and social media.
It said, “This court should deal with such efforts in a proper manner and will deliberately impose heavy fines for the petitioner’s efforts to mislead the court.”
The Election Commission admitted that after the publication of the draft nominees, political parties were provided an updated list of the names of voters who were not included in the draft nominees to ensure that all efforts were made to reach them.
It said, “Political parties have admitted to receiving the said list.”
The Election Commission said, “In another attempt to mislead this court, the petitioners have stressed that the person whose name is excluded from the draft role has no solution because he cannot register a claim or objection.”
Citing detailed guidelines of the SIR order of 24 June, the Election Commission said that it clearly provides for involvement of individuals whose calculation forms have not been submitted within the stipulated time. On 6 August, the apex court had directed the Election Commission to submit details of about 65 lakh voters released from the draft voter list by 9 August.
The NGO ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’, which challenged the June 24 order of the Election Commission for the SIR of the voter list in Bihar, has filed a new application demanding to publish the names of about 65 lakh removed voters, which also mentions that they are dead, or have no other reasons for any other reason.
