People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has approached the Supreme Court against the recent direction of the Election Commission of India (ECI) for special deep revision (SIR) of electoral rolls specifically implemented in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
PUCL filed a writ petition questioning the constitutional validity of ECI's order dated June 24, 2025, which states that voters not listed in the 2003 electoral rolls will now have to submit specified documents to prove their citizenship.
"The ECI has not defined any legitimate purpose, nor has it tried to protect voters from disproportionate harm," the petition said.
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The civil liberties body pointed out that SIRs were originally a five-year process aimed at updating voter lists due to deaths, migrations and new entries. However, after the digitisation of voter lists in 2003-2004, this practice was discontinued as it had become unnecessary. Since digital systems allow for continuous updates and corrections, resource-heavy SIRs were no longer necessary. Instead, summary revisions continued to serve the purpose.
PUCL argues that reviving SIRs now without clear justification places an excessive burden on voters and lacks proper safeguards.
"Unless the June 24 order is repealed, it may arbitrarily disenfranchise millions of voters, striking at the basic structure of the Constitution," the petition warned.
According to PUCL, the move could violate the right to vote by wrongly excluding genuine voters who are unable to meet the strict documentation demands. The group raised concerns over the short timelines, inadequate processes and the scale of the revision in Bihar, where nearly 8 crore people are eligible to vote.
"This illegal and hasty exercise will exclude voters and defeat democracy by using the very tools of democracy," the petition said.
The petition further said that many of those excluded may be wrongly labelled "ghost voters" or "fake voters".
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This is not the only petition challenging the ECI's direction. Similar petitions have been filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, activist Yogendra Yadav and MP Mahua Moitra, all of which have raised concerns about the fairness and timing of the decision.
PUCL's petition has been filed through advocate-on-record Talha Abdul Rahman.
