Supreme Court to hear Bihar SIR date extension plea on Monday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea on September 1 seeking an extension of the deadline to file claims and final objections for the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi, and Vipul M. Pancholi agreed to list the matter after an urgent mention by Advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Bhushan informed the bench that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bihar's leading opposition party, along with several others, had filed applications seeking an extension of the September 1 deadline to submit claims and objections related to the draft electoral rolls.


A similar plea was filed by Bihar MLA Akhtarul Iman. Appearing on his behalf, Advocate Nizam Pasha stated that 80,000 claims were submitted within three weeks prior to the court's last order, and 95,000 claims followed in the subsequent week.

The bench asked whether the Election Commission had been approached for the extension. Counsel informed the court that the Commission had been approached but refused the request. The court then directed that the matter be listed on September 1.

In the previous hearing, the bench had allowed electors not included in the draft rolls to submit applications for inclusion online, clarifying that physical submissions were not necessary.

Although the top court refused to extend the deadline for submitting objections for the Bihar SIR, it said the Election Commission could consider an extension if it receives an "overwhelming response."

The division bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also reiterated that an Aadhaar card or any of the eleven documents listed by the Election Commission could be submitted with inclusion applications.

The bench further urged political parties to assist those excluded from the draft electoral rolls.