Election Commission ‘knows its responsibility to publish data’ post SIR: SC

October 16, 2025

New Delhi, Oct 16: The Supreme Court on Thursday (October 16) adjourned the hearing of the petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s special rapid revision of Bihar voter lists till November 4. The Bihar assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11.

Prashant Bhushan Urges Court to Direct Election Commission to Publish Final Voter List

During the hearing today, ADR advocate Prashant Bhushan strongly urged a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi to direct the Election Commission to publish the list of names included/deleted in the final list.

The bench, taking note of the Election Commission’s argument that they are in the process of publishing the list, said it will wait to see what the election body publishes. “We have no doubt that they will discharge their duty…they are bound to publish…we are not closing the matter,” Justice Kant said.

EC to Publish Final List Before Bihar Assembly Elections

Initially, Bhushan submitted that the Election Commission of India should publish the final list of voters, stating the names added and deleted along with the reasons.

“They have not disclosed the complete list of newly deleted names of voters on the draft lists but not on the final lists… what are the newly deleted names, it has not been disclosed… tomorrow and on the 20th they will freeze the final list… unfortunately, they are not putting the final list on their website. This needs to be done immediately,” Bhushan submitted.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said that they are in the process of publishing the final list.

He said that for the first phase of the elections, October 17 is the last date for filing nominations, and hence the list will be frozen as on that date. For the second phase, October 20 is the last date for filing nominations and hence time till then is available. Dwivedi asked why Bhushan should seek directions when the Election Commission was already doing so.

“See what they publish. Suppose the final list indicates who has been added, who has been removed… there are some typographical errors… as Mr. Yadav pointed out… we hope that they, as a responsible authority, will look into these things and bring corrective measures,” Justice Kant said.

Dwivedi also submitted that no appeal has been received against the removal of the Election Commission, although the court has ensured availability of free legal aid to voters as per the order passed last week. Also Read – Supreme Court dismisses Telangana government’s plea against High Court’s stay on 42% reservation for backward classes in local body elections Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Vrinda Grover, for other petitioners, urged the court to hear the constitutional issue of whether the Election Commission has the power to conduct SIR.

Court Orders Free Legal Aid for Excluded Voters in Bihar Electoral Revision

The bench asked the Election Commission to file its written notes on this aspect. The bench also noted that the Election Commission has today filed an affidavit refuting the arguments made by ADR and Yogendra Yadav at the last opportunity and allowed the petitioners to respond to it. In short, on the last date (October 9), the court passed an interim order to ensure free legal aid to those excluded from the final voter list so that they can file an appeal against their exclusion.

In addition, activist Yogendra Yadav urged the court to direct the Election Commission to disclose how many persons were found to be foreigners after the exercise. He alleged massive irregularities in the domestic data and accuracy of the final lists, while alleging that the SIR led to “the biggest ever shrinkage of voter lists in the history of the country”.