In Focus by The Hindu Bihar SIR: What the Supreme Court’s intervention has achieved and what lies ahead
Nov 11, 2025
Prashant Bhushan, an advocate at the Supreme Court of India and electoral law specialist, dives into the complexities surrounding the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. He discusses the legal battles over disenfranchisement and transparency, revealing issues like duplicate voter entries and the Election Commission's refusal to adopt deduplication methods. Bhushan emphasizes the need for social audits to ensure accuracy and warns of potential targeted exclusions. He also critiques ongoing court proceedings and insists on the necessity for reforms to restore the Election Commission's integrity.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Limited Transparency In SIR Process
- The Election Commission minimized transparency during the SIR by withholding data on additions and exclusions.
- This lack of disclosure prevents independent verification of duplicates and arbitrary removals.
Deduplication Was Not Employed
- The SIR produced widespread duplicate and garbled entries because deduplication software was not used.
- Rejecting available software created obvious anomalies like hundreds of identical entries at single addresses.
Bihar SIR Creates A Fait Accompli Risk
- Conducting SIR during ongoing polling makes review of Bihar's exercise largely academic for that state.
- The Court must therefore scrutinize the process for remaining states and set binding standards.