Supreme Court seeks proof of wrongful voter deletions in Bihar; asks petitioners for 100–200 examples

A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked petitioners, including the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and several political parties, to submit affidavits with examples of at least 100–200 voters who were allegedly removed unfairly from the voter list.

“We cannot decide this issue in the dark,” Justice Surya Kant said, noting that individual proof of wrongful deletion would help the court determine whether the process violated any laws or electoral norms.

During the hearing, Justice Bagchi pointed to discrepancies between the draft list published on August 30 and the final voter list, saying there was confusion about the identities of added and deleted voters.

“There seems to be an increase in the number of voters in the final list, but we need to know- are these re-additions of deleted names or new voters altogether?” Justice Bagchi asked.

The Election Commission, represented by Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, said most of the additions were new voters, not reinstated ones.

However, the bench sought transparency from the poll body, observing that it was important to clarify the nature of additions and deletions to maintain public confidence in the electoral process.

“You have draft and final lists. Omission is clear from the names. Just cull that out and give us the information,” Justice Bagchi said, adding that the court’s intervention should not be viewed as interference but as a step to aid the electoral process.

Petitioners, led by Advocate Prashant Bhushan for ADR, argued that ECI’s own rules require publication of deletion data and reasons on its website, but no such information was made public.

“They have violated their own guidelines and manual,” Bhushan said, adding that mass exclusions appeared to affect women, poor voters, and minority communities.

In response, the ECI urged the court to direct petitioners to file formal affidavits to substantiate their claims.

Advocate Nizam Pasha told the court that many voters whose names had been deleted were still awaiting official orders from the EC, preventing them from filing appeals.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi added that around 3.66 lakh voters had their names removed without receiving any prior notice or reason, effectively denying them the right to appeal.

Justice Surya Kant emphasized that each individual has a right to appeal and that the court could only act if it had specific data on wrongful deletions.

“We want to know the people who have been deleted from voter lists and not filing appeal,” he said, adding that the court’s role was limited to cases of actual wrongful deletion, not general allegations.

He further noted that there were also instances of illegal immigrants whose names were lawfully removed, cautioning that the issue must be handled with care and factual precision.

The bench concluded by directing petitioners to submit affidavits with examples of 100–200 individuals who claim their names were deleted without due process, so that the Election Commission could verify the claims and the court could proceed with clarity.