Political analyst and activist Yogendra Yadav has hailed what he calls “the first big victory” in the ongoing legal challenge against the Election Commission’s ‘special intensive revision’ of Bihar’s voter list. Speaking to NDTV, Yadav welcomed the Supreme Court’s suggestions that Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration card be accepted as valid documents for the voter re-verification process.
“Now the entire process will be under the supervision of the Supreme Court,” Yadav stated. “The court will monitor the revision of electoral rolls. This is a major win for us.”
The Supreme Court’s intervention came during a hearing in which it posed several tough questions to the Election Commission. Among these was a demand for clarity on the legal basis of the voter list revision, especially since the rolls were last updated just months ago in January, ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in October or November.
Yadav and others who filed the petition have argued that the revision process is an attempt to suppress the voting rights of the poor and marginalised communities. “We said in our petition that this revision, as conducted by the EC, could disenfranchise large sections of ordinary voters,” Yadav said. “We are happy the Supreme Court noted our concerns and included our suggestion that commonly used IDs should be part of the verification documents.”
In addition, the Supreme Court warned the Election Commission that every voter removed from the list during this process must be given a fair opportunity to appeal.
While the court did not stay the revision exercise for now, it did express concern over the feasibility and timing of the process. “Your exercise is not the problem… it is the timing. We have serious doubts if you can manage this exercise,” the court said, pointing out the challenge of re-verifying approximately eight crore voters within a limited time frame.
The bench also took issue with the exclusion of widely-used government-issued IDs such as Aadhaar, ration cards, and the EC’s own voter ID from the original list of acceptable documents. “In our opinion, it will be in the interest of justice if these three are included,” the court noted.
This revision exercise has ignited a major political storm in Bihar. The opposition alliance, including the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has accused the Election Commission of acting under pressure from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Critics claim that the move could disenfranchise millions, particularly among the poor and marginalised, who may lack the newly mandated documents but are already listed and have participated in previous elections.
The Election Commission, however, rejected these concerns in court. It argued that Aadhaar is used for verifying identity—not citizenship—and insisted that no genuine voter would be removed from the rolls. Sources later reiterated to NDTV that the EC is legally empowered to conduct a special intensive revision and that Aadhaar is already a recognized identification document.
The Supreme Court has now directed the Election Commission to respond to all its queries before the next hearing, scheduled for July 28. The coming weeks are likely to shape the course of this controversial exercise—and determine whether or not it impinges on the fundamental right to vote.
