SC to Hear on July 10 Pleas Against EC’s Decision
PTI, NEW DELHI, JULY 7, 2025 : Joining nine other parties in challenging the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar before the Supreme Court, the Congress on Monday said the entire Opposition is united on the issue and alleged that the exercise is aimed at disenfranchising the vast number of voters with its “mischievous methodology”.
The Opposition party said it has full faith that the apex court will deliver justice, as it claimed that the revision exercise initiated by the Election Commission just ahead of assembly elections in Bihar is causing chaos across villages and towns in the state by creating anxiety among crores of voters who fear their right to vote will be stolen.
Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said, as a signatory on behalf of the Indian National Congress, along with various Opposition parties, he has approached the Supreme Court against the “blatantly unconstitutional SIR exercise” in Bihar.
“It has wreaked havoc across villages and towns of Bihar, giving crores of voters anxiety about whether their right to vote will be stolen. This is mass-scale rigging and mischief being carried out by the ECI, under instructions from the ruling regime,” Venugopal alleged in a post on X. “We have faith that the Hon’ble Supreme Court will deliver justice,” he said.
The party’s in-charge of the media and publicity department, Pawan Khera, said: “Today, the Indian National Congress, along with nine political parties, came together to file a challenge to the flawed and destructive Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being carried out by the ECI.”
“The entire Opposition stands together to oppose an exercise that is guaranteed to disenfranchise a vast number of voters due to its malicious and mischievous methodology. The Supreme Court has listed the matter for Thursday, July 10, 2025. Satyamev Jayate,” Khera said in his post on X.
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala said: “Democracy or BJP’s vote suppression mechanism? Bihar is asking, the country is asking!”
“Without any proof, without any discrepancies, 7 crore voters now have to prove their Indian citizenship again. Those whose names were added after 2003 are being viewed with suspicion.
“Citizens who have been voting for the past 20 years are now being asked for identification, residence, and citizenship documents.
“This process called ‘Special Intensive Revision’ has neither any legal basis nor any mention in the rules. This term doesn’t even exist in electoral law,” Surjewala said.
He claimed that when such a revision happened in 2003, it lasted a year, and everyone was treated equally, but now “it is just 30 days with different rules and no clear process.”
“The people of Bihar are being tested on the question of citizenship. Voters have been turned into suspected citizens. The Election Commission is evading answers.
“This isn’t democracy; this is Shakuni’s laboratory. This isn’t a voter list; this is a script written with political motives. Remember, everything will be remembered,” Surjewala stated.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 10 a batch of petitions challenging the decision of the Election Commission to undertake the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A partial working day (PWD) bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi took note of the submissions of a battery of senior lawyers led by Kapil Sibal on behalf of several petitioners and agreed to hear the pleas on Thursday.
Sibal, who appeared for RJD MP Manoj Jha, urged the bench to issue notices to the poll panel on the petitions, saying it is an impossible task to be done within the timeline (as elections are likely to be held in November).
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for another petitioner, submitted that there are around eight crore voters in the state, of which around four crore voters will have to submit their documents under the exercise. “The timeline is so strict, and if by July 25 you don’t submit the documents, you will be out,” Singhvi added.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for another petitioner, submitted that poll panel authorities are not accepting Aadhaar cards and voter cards as documents for the exercise.
Justice Dhulia said the matter will be listed on Thursday and added that the timeline at present does not have sanctity as elections have not been notified as yet. The bench asked the petitioners to give advance notice of their petitions to the counsel for the Election Commission of India.
Several pleas, including by leaders like Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, have been filed in the top court challenging the Election Commission’s order directing for special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
