Election Commission Defends Bihar SIR, Dismisses Allegations of Communal Bias Before Supreme Court

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Patna: The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday firmly defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls, terming the exercise “accurate” and rejecting claims by political parties and NGOs that it was biased. The commission told the Supreme Court that these allegations are “false” and aimed at discrediting the electoral process.

During the hearing, the EC clarified that no voter has filed any appeal against name deletions since the publication of the final electoral roll following the months-long SIR exercise. The poll panel also denied allegations that there was a “disproportionate exclusion of Muslims” from the list, calling such claims “communal” and “to be deprecated”. These remarks were made in a formal statement submitted to the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, noting the absence of several political parties due to election rallies in the state, emphasized that the EC, as a responsible authority, must address typographical errors and other mistakes in the final electoral roll and implement remedial measures wherever necessary.

Rejecting pleas challenging its June 24 decision to conduct the Bihar SIR, the EC accused the petitioners of harboring “ulterior motives” and being interested only in making false allegations to discredit the SIR exercise, the final electoral roll, and the commission itself for political gains.

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