By Dr. Gyan Pathak
The exercise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Roll in Bihar has itself given proof that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has eroded its own sanctity, and also of Aadhaar that is being implemented in the country by an act of the Parliament passed in 2016, and the Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) that has been introduced by ECI itself. ECI denied to accept these cards while Supreme Court of India on July 28, 2025 said that these cards have a “presumption of correctness” and gave oral direction to ECI to accept them as proof of identity for enumeration in voter list. Nevertheless, reports from ground level have said the ECI is still not accepting Aadhaar and EPIC, and now is ready to publish the Draft Revised Electoral Roll for Bihar on August 1.
One of the chief constitutional responsibilities of the ECI is to maintain a voters list, that is latest and correct. Before every election, ECI makes revision of the voter list and make it updated and corrected, as it has always been claiming. However, this claim has no truth in it, as far as correctness of the electoral roll is concerned, which has not only eroded the sanctity of the Electoral Roll, but also the sanctity of the ECI. Even dead persons were reported voted in the past. Large number of non-citizens of India have been reportedly voting years after years. People used to have found enrolled in several voter lists across the country. Many electors were living outside of the area from which they are enrolled as a voter, and it has been reported in the past that votes were cast on their behalf while they were absent.
The latest revised voter list for Bihar is dated January 2025, and until the new revised final voter list is published on September 30, it stands in place as is indicated by even the Supreme Court of India. However, at the conclusion of the first phase of the SIR exercise with the deadline July 25, ECI has itself given the proof that voter list of Bihar as in January 2025 is grossly incorrect.
The ECI has said on July 25 that the revised voter list of Bihar as on January 2025, contained the names of 22 lakh dead men and women, 35 lakh people in the voter list are either untraceable or had permanently left the state, and 7 lakh voters were found registered in more than one place, and large number of foreign nationals were found to be enrolled in the voter list – mostly from Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. The revelation by the ECI speak itself about the gross malfunctioning of the ECI in the past.
The opposition has been raising the manipulation of voter list for quite some time. Large number of voters used to be enrolled just before the state elections, and most of them allegedly outsiders. They simply come and vote in large numbers and vanish after voting. Outsiders just go and vote – from one state to the other – in favour of the ruling establishment. Such an unfair practice has been unchecked by ECI. The opposition has alleged that BJP and ECI has collaborated in manipulating the electoral roll by addition of large number of outsiders as voters, who simply vanish from the ground after voting. It is through this strategy, the opposition allege, BJP won Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi.
The evidence given by the ECI itself on July 25 about the voter list of Bihar gives credence to the allegation that large number of outsiders get enrolled, who can’t be actually found on the ground. In case of Bihar, ECI says that 35 lakh voters are untraceable. Where have gone these voters in just within six months? Sanctity of voter list maintained by ECI has already been lost.
The record of addition of new votes will be known only after the Draft Revised Electoral Roll will be published on August 1. Currently we only know the possibility of deletion of over 66 lakh votes, as per the ECI data published on July 25. The opposition alleges that BJP and ECI are hand in glove in SIR exercise aiming at deletion this time. And deletion has become reality now, which is a proof given by ECI itself, that voter list of January 2025 was grossly erroneous. It means ECI has not been functioning properly for years.
Is the current ECI is functioning properly as it should as constitutional body? The answer is still in negative, even if we consider the issue of Aadhaar and EPIC cards, the sanctity of which is being eroded by the ECI. Can, or should, a constitutional body of the country undermine any act of parliament?
Aadhaar has been implemented by an act of Parliament, and the Election Commission has been giving it great value since the Aadhaar Act of 2016. ECI has been even working on linking Aadhaar and EPIC, primarily to address the issue of duplicate entries in the electoral rolls. During the SIR exercise in Bihar, ECI has identified over 7 lakh duplicate voters, that too without accepting Aadhaar and EPIC as proof of identity. This is Tughlaqi Firman of the ECI, earlier accepting the sanctity of the both the Aadhaar and EPIC, now refusing to accept those. The current stand of the ECI is just opposite of the state of ECI in the past. Why the ECI now not accepting Aadhaar and EPIC if liking them was claimed to be helpful in addressing the duplicate entries by the earlier ECI regime? ECI owes explanation to the votes.
As for the Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC), it has also its own sanctity which the current ECI is bent upon to erode, along with Aadhaar. EPIC bill was introduced in the Parliament of India in 1958, and eventually passed. Its nationwide implementation began in 1993. In 2021, ECI introduced e-EPIC with QR code. It was claimed by the ECI that from initial proposal to the nationwide implementation and the digital revolution with the e-EPIC, the journey of EPIC card highlighted country’s continuous efforts to strengthen India’s electoral process and ensure the participation of every eligible citizen in shaping the nation’s future. Now refusing the EPIC is just opposite to the earlier stated reason of sanctifying EPIC.
Nevertheless, Supreme Court has said on July 28 that Aadhaar and EPIC have “presumption of correctness” and orally directed the ECI to accept both as proof of identity, why ECI still not ready to accept the direction? Should ECI be allowed to erode the sanctity of the institution itself along with Aadhaar and EPIC which are being implemented under Acts of Parliament? Should the executive orders of ECI be allowed to erode the sanctity of the documents that is valid under Acts of Parliament?
There are many other questions that need to be answered, when the SIR issue will come for final hearing from August 12, 2025, especially in the backdrop of Supreme Court keeping the sanctity of the Aadhaar and EPIC, while ECI adamant on refusing them to accept. Supreme Court Bench had also pointed out that it is not the business of the ECI to determine citizenship of a person, but it comes under the jurisdiction of the Union Ministry of Home. At this point a pertinent question is- Has ECI any right to declare a person non-citizen merely on the basis that the document they are demanding is not available with the person, while they have other valid documents? Moreover, has ECI any right to refuse a valid document under law? Accuracy of the present SIR exercise has already become a suspect, because names of millions of Indian citizens are set to be deleted, which is already accepted by ECI. (IPA Service)
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