BREAKING: Supreme Court to Hear Petitions Against Bihar Electoral Roll Revision on July 10

 In a major move that could affect millions of voters, the Supreme Court of India has agreed to expeditiously consider several petitions contesting the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to carry out a "Special Intensive Revision" of the Bihar electoral rolls. The date of the hearing is set for Thursday, July 10.

Why the Hurry?
Leading attorneys Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and Shadan Farasat jointly brought up the issue before a special vacation bench made up of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, which prompted the action.

They expressed concerns about the ECI's directives, claiming that strict documentation requirements and an arbitrary timeline could deprive millions of voters of their right to vote.

Singhvi noted that 4 crore people needed to be re-enumerated out of the 8 crore voters.

Sibal, speaking on behalf of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), continued, "It's an impossible task."

Sankaranarayanan declared, "They won't even accept voter ID cards or Aadhaar."

Tight Deadline, Serious Repercussions
Regardless of how long they have been voting, the petitioners claim that voters who do not submit the necessary paperwork by July 25 risk having their names removed from the electoral rolls.

Since there hasn't been an official election notification yet, Justice Dhulia stated that the timeline "doesn't have sanctity." However, the bench agreed to hear the case this Thursday after acknowledging its urgency. Additionally, the court ordered that the Election Commission be given advance notice of the petitions.

Who Has Filed the Petitions?

So far, four petitions have been submitted, including:

• RJD MP Manoj Jha

• Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

• People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

• Activist Yogendra Yadav and MP Mahua Moitra

All the petitioners argue that the ECI’s decision to conduct a special revision process in Bihar — especially under such a tight deadline — is likely to exclude a large number of genuine voters, potentially skewing the electoral process.

What’s Next?

With the matter now scheduled for a hearing on July 10, all eyes are on the Supreme Court. The outcome of this case could significantly impact electoral participation in Bihar and set a precedent for how voter roll revisions are handled across the country.