SC to resume hearing today on petitions challenging SIR in Bihar

New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) The Supreme Court will hear several petitions on Monday challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls.

This revision process, intended to clean up the voter list, has sparked intense political and legal debates ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.

As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi will resume hearing the pleas against the ECI order directing SIR exercise in Bihar on September 8.

Earlier, the Justice Surya Kant-led Bench declined to extend the September 1 deadline set by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for filing claims and objections to the draft electoral rolls published after the first phase of the SIR.

The development came after the ECI assured the apex court that even objections sent after September 1, but before the last date of nominations, would still be considered for inclusion in the voters’ list.

The apex court was considering applications from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other political parties, who sought an extension of the Election Commission’s deadline for submitting claim forms.

In its order passed on September 1, the Justice Surya Kant-led Bench noted: "The process of consideration of claims will continue till the last date of nominations. Let the claims/objections be continued to be filed."

Furthermore, it requested the Bihar State Legal Services Authority to deploy para-legal volunteers (PLVs) to assist voters and political parties in submitting online claims, objections, or corrections.

Meanwhile, the sources claimed that the ECI is considering conducting SIR across the country and has called a meeting of all the state Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) in Delhi on September 10. The meeting will be attended by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the Election Commissioners, and other senior poll body officers.

--IANS

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