New Delhi: Amid questions being raised about the timing of the Election Commission (EC)'s special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, along with the documents it is seeking of voters as proof of their eligibility, the poll body in its affidavit in the Supreme Court has referred to the last such revision conducted in 2003 in defence of the ongoing exercise.

While the EC refers to the 2003 revision in its affidavit, it has not attached a copy of the order effectuating that exercise. Its references to the 2003 exercise also omit crucial details of how it was conducted.

In its affidavit in the Supreme Court, the EC refers to the 2003 exercise to establish that its duration was the same as that of the present revision, but only mentions the time given to provide enumeration forms and does not include dates for when claims and objections were filed or when the draft rolls and final rolls were published.

It also refers to four documents sought in the 2003 exercise and says in comparison that it has now listed 11 documents that electors can submit to prove their eligibility.

The 2003 order – which can provide crucial details about how the process was conducted then, and allow comparisons with the present exercise – is not available on the EC's website.

Web archives of the EC's releases do not have a copy of the 2003 order or instructions for the intensive revision exercise, which the poll body has now termed a special intensive revision.

Its absence from the affidavit now raises further questions about why the order or the subsequent instructions have been excluded.

Duration of the exercise

While questions have been raised about the short window of time within which the present exercise is being conducted, the EC in its affidavit refers to the 2003 exercise to say that then too the period of enumeration was one month and therefore the allegation that the current exercise is hasty is “misconceived”.

However, it does not provide any further dates about the period of claims and objections, or when the draft rolls were published, or how long it took to dispose of claims and objections raised regarding the draft rolls and when the final rolls were published.

“That the ECI has previously conducted SIRs more frequently, as has also been stated in the SIR order dated 24.06.2025. The last such exercise was undertaken in Bihar in 2002-2003, and the period of enumeration was from 15.07.2002 to 14.08.2022,” the affidavit says.

“The current SIR has an enumeration period from 25.06.2025 to 26.07.2025. Thus, the allegation that ECI is conducting the exercise hastily is misconceived.”

The entire exercise – including the enumeration of forms, claims and objections and the publication of draft and final rolls – in 2025 is being done in three months.

Documents available for previous revisions show that the exercise has taken six months.

A Times of India report from August 2001 said that the EC had finalised a schedule for an intensive door-to-door special revision of voter lists in 20 states and Union territories to begin later that year and that the exercise would take six months to be completed.

It also said that four states that were to shortly go to the polls – Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal (as Uttarakhand was called then), Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir; states recently divided, including Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh; along with northeastern states except Sikkim – would be excluded and their verification be done in 2003.

In a press release dated June 29, 2004, the EC announced an intensive revision in the seven northeastern states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura – as well as Jammu and Kashmir with January 1, 2005 as the qualifying date, provided that the entire exercise started from July 1, 2004 with the final publication of electoral rolls after six months on January 3, 2005.

In a letter to the chief electoral officers of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura dated June 17, 2004 that provided detailed guidelines for the intensive revision, the EC said that that a special revision of intensive nature was undertaken with January 1, 2002 as the qualifying date in 20 states and Union territories.

It also said that the same exercise for Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh was conducted with January 1, 2003 as the qualifying date.

The same letter says that with respect to the revision of electoral rolls in 2004, rolls in all states and Union territories were summarily revised with January 1, 2004 as the qualifying date. It lists the date when final electoral rolls were published for this exercise, which shows that for Bihar the final roll was published on February 28, 2004.

While the present exercise is being conducted just months before the assembly election due in November, going by the EC's dates for the period of enumeration in 2003 as stated in the affidavit, it would transpire that the SIR process was started well before the assembly elections were due to be held in 2005.

In March 2000, now-chief minister from the Janata Dal (United) Nitish Kumar resigned a day before a floor test due in the assembly and the Rashtriya Janata Dal's Rabri Devi was sworn in as chief minister. She continued in office till the assembly elections in 2005.

Eleven documents against four in 2003

While a major point of contention for the present exercise is the list of 11 documents being sought by the commission for electors to prove their eligibility, the poll body in its affidavit has turned down the Supreme Court’s suggestion that Aadhaar, voter identity and ration cards be considered as valid documents.

It has to this end pointed again to the 2003 SIR in Bihar and said that only four documents were prescribed then while in 2025 it has given a list of 11.

“That with respect to the list of documents sought under the 2025 SIR, it is pertinent to note that during the 2003 SIR in Bihar, the guidelines prescribed 4 indicative documents (NRC Register where available; Citizenship Certificate; valid passport or; Birth Certificate) in support of any claim of citizenship, and during 2025 SIR in Bihar, 11 indicative documents are prescribed to support any claim of eligibility under Article 326,” the affidavit says.

Of these 11 documents sought by the commission, five do not indicate the applicant’s place or date of birth, which is a prerequisite for one's inclusion in the voter roll.

Yet in the affidavit, the EC says that “appropriate attention has been given to the procedure so as to ensure existing electors are not put through unnecessary hardships in procuring documents”.

“The EC is conscious of its responsibilities to ensure that the purity and integrity of electoral roll is maintained, but at the same time appropriate attention has been given to the procedure so as to ensure existing electors are not put through unnecessary hardships in procuring documents,” the affidavit says.

“Moreover, a perusal of the indicative list makes it apparent that the nature of documents sought are such which would be available with or accessible to the electors.”

It further says in the affidavit in reference to 2003 that the final electoral roll then published had 4.96 crore voters, but leaves out the date of publication.

It also does not mention how many electors were found to have migrated, been deceased or been registered in multiple places as a result of the 2003 exercise.

“That is further submitted that approximately 7.9 crore electors exist in the state of Bihar, and around 4.96 crore electors appeared in the final electoral roll prepared during the last Intensive Revision in 2003,” the affidavit says.

“Some of Petitioners have given figures regarding the number of persons who have died or have migrated to another state permanently. It is stated that approximately 1.1 crore electors have died, and 70 lakh have shifted residence to another state permanently. These figures are not admitted. The correct figures will emerge after the completion of the SIR exercise,” the affidavit says.

“However, assuming, without admitting that the figures are correct, it is expected that about 3.16 crore electors would merely have to produce extracts of their names in the electoral roll prepares after the SIR in 2003, even if we exclude children who can use the 2003 electoral roll for their parents, who would only have to produce evidence of their relationship with those electors whose names feature in the 2003 electoral roll, along with the extracts of the said roll.”

As of July 25, the EC's data shows that 99.8% of forms have been collected.

Its release late on Friday also showed that it has taken the unusual step of merging two previously distinct and politically sensitive categories. The highly contentious “untraceable” voter category has now been mysteriously subsumed into the “permanently migrated” group, creating a single, ambiguous bloc of 35 lakh people.

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