Supreme Court demands ECI explains why it deleted 65 lakh voters from draft list

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-08-14 13:54:48 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-24 15:31:00

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The Supreme Court of India has ordered the Election Commission of India (ECI) to release a detailed list of the 65 lakh voters it plans to remove from the draft electoral roll, as well as the reasons for each deletion. The Court further stated that the ECI must widely publicize the list and facilitate access to it for all stakeholders. This comes after a collective petition was filed pointing out that the voter rolls in Bihar had been inflated by dubious and bogus entries, requesting to scrutinize the eligibility of voters ahead of state elections.

The matter was heard by a bench of Justice N. Sanjoy, with Attorney Arpit Raj representing the petitioner organisation, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Bihar government represented by Advocate Vijoy Kumar Singh. The Court concluded that the ECI's justification for mass deletion was inadequate, and the affected citizens and political parties should be allowed to contest their proposed removal.

The decision has wider implications for the upcoming state elections in Bihar, as the voter list is the foundation for conducting free and fair elections. It is essential to ensure that the list is accurate, complete, and reliable, and the Supreme Court's decision reinforces the importance of transparency and accountability in the election process.

The ECI must provide a compelling and concise justification for each individual voter deletion, and a detailed list of those affected. The Court has set a deadline for the ECI to submit the revised list with justifications for the deletions based on specific criteria, leaving no room for arbitrary removal of legitimate voters.

The Court's order ensures that voters' rights are protected and sends a strong message to the ECI to maintain transparent and accountable voting rolls.

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