Bihar SIR: 17,665 claims, objections over draft voter list, 454 disposed; no claims by political parties

New Delhi [India], August 13 (ANI): Election Commission of India (ECI) has received a total of 17,665 claims and objections over the draft voter list after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, out of which 454 complaints have been disposed, a press note said on Wednesday.
According to the press note by ECI, after 13 days, no claim or objection has been submitted by any political party.
A total of 74,525 forms have been received from new electors on attaining 18 years of age or above, including six forms received from BLAS.
As per rules, the claims and objections are to be disposed of by the concerned ERO/AERO after the expiry of seven days after the verification of eligibility documents.
As per SIR orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1, 2025, without passing a speaking order by the ERO/AERO after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity, the press note said.
The ECI published the draft voter list after the SIR exercise in poll-bound Bihar on August 1. The final voter list will be released after the one month given for claims and objections.
Earlier till Tuesday, the poll body had 13,970 complaints from the electors, out of which 341 were disposed. While a total of 63,591 forms were received from new electors on attaining 18 years of age or above, including six forms received from BLAS.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court began hearing a batch of petitions challenging the ECI's decision to conduct a SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and observed that the poll panel was right in stating that an Aadhaar card is not conclusive proof of citizenship.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also remarked that the inclusion and exclusion of citizens and non-citizens from the electoral rolls falls within the remit of the ECI.
During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha, told the bench that the exclusion of about 65 lakh voters from the draft electoral roll, without any objection to their inclusion, is illegal.
To this, the bench said that as per the Rules, the persons excluded have to submit applications for inclusion, and it is only at this stage that anyone's objection will be considered.
The apex court also did not agree with the submission that the people in Bihar do not have the majority of documents sought by the ECI as proof during the SIR.
Justice Kant said, "Bihar is part of India. If they don't have them, other states won't either."
"There must be something to prove you are a citizen of India... everybody possesses some certificate... You need it even to buy a SIM. OBC, SC, ST certificates... It is a very sweeping argument that in Bihar, nobody possesses these documents," Justice Kant said. (ANI)