The Supreme Court on Thursday, July 10, 2025, addressed petitions challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to revise Bihar's electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. While refusing to halt the revision process, the court directed the ECI to consider Aadhaar cards, Voter IDs, and ration cards as valid documents for voter verification during the "Special Intensive Revision" (SIR). A follow-up hearing is scheduled for July 28.

The ECI's decision to conduct the revision months before the elections drew criticism from opposition parties, who argued that the stringent documentation requirements could disenfranchise voters. Advocate Sankarnarayanan, representing the petitioners, described the exercise as arbitrary and discriminatory. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, also appearing for the petitioners, criticized the ECI's exclusion of Aadhaar, calling it a "citizenship screening" exercise, especially when "the entire country is going mad after Aadhaar".

The Supreme Court questioned the timing of the revision and the exclusion of Aadhaar from the list of accepted documents. The ECI's counsel responded that Aadhaar cannot be used as proof of citizenship, a point the court countered by stating that citizenship falls under the purview of the Home Ministry, not the ECI. The ECI insisted that the revision aims to eliminate duplicate and bogus voters, especially those listed at both permanent and current addresses. The ECI counsel requested the court to review the revised voter list before it is finalized.

The court posed three questions to the ECI, focusing on the commission's power to undertake the revision, the procedure adopted, and the timing of the exercise. The court acknowledged that the issue goes to the root of democracy and the right to vote.

The ECI explained that large-scale additions and deletions to the voter rolls over the past 20 years have increased the possibility of duplicate entries, necessitating the revision. The commission also assured the court that individuals whose names are removed from the list will have the opportunity to explain their situation.

The ECI's decision to exclude Aadhaar, ration cards, and MGNREGA cards from the list of acceptable documents was based on concerns that illegal immigrants, particularly from Bangladesh, may have obtained them. The accepted documents include government-issued pension orders, pre-1987 official documents from government or PSU, birth certificates, passports, school certificates, permanent residence certificates, forest rights certificates, caste certificates, NRC (where available), family registers from local authorities, and land or house allotment certificates from government agencies.

The Supreme Court's intervention seeks to balance the ECI's mandate to maintain accurate voter rolls with the need to ensure that eligible voters are not disenfranchised due to overly restrictive documentation requirements. The court has urged the ECI to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID, and ration cards, while the ECI has expressed concerns about the use of these documents by non-citizens. The court acknowledged that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship or domicile but can be used if someone objects to a person's identity. The follow-up hearing on July 28 will likely further address these concerns as the revision process continues.