The Supreme Court on Monday, September 1, declined to extend the deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, even as it flagged a widening trust deficit between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and political parties.

A bench headed by Justice Surya Kant noted that voters could still submit claims and objections until the nomination phase, ensuring ample opportunity for corrections. The court also directed the Bihar Legal Services Authority to deploy volunteers to assist voters in the process and urged political parties to become more proactive, observing that the number of claims filed so far was low. Addressing Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) representatives, the bench remarked, “Please tell your party to activate itself.”

The court expressed concern over the limited participation of political parties in the revision process amid allegations of large-scale voter exclusions. Petitioners, including RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha and MLA Akhtarul Iman, had sought an extension of the September 1 deadline, claiming nearly 65 lakh voters were excluded. However, the bench stated that instead of citing broad figures, parties must identify specific cases of Aadhaar-related rejections.

Earlier, the court had directed the ECI to make the list of excluded voters publicly available on the Bihar CEO and district portals in an EPIC-searchable format, with detailed reasons for each exclusion. This move was aimed at enhancing transparency and enabling timely rectification.

The ECI assured the court that the electoral roll would remain open for claims and objections until nominations are filed. It also reported a surge in engagement after the court’s intervention, with 80,000 claims initially filed and another 95,000 submissions in the following week.

The matter is scheduled for the next hearing on September 8.