New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has filed a compliance report before the Supreme Court ahead of Friday’s hearing on the ongoing revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls, which has drawn scrutiny after large-scale deletions.
A person aware of the development told Hindustan Times that the Commission has submitted a “three-to-four page compliance report which says that all the suggestions made by the Supreme Court on August 14 have been complied with promptly.” The source added that the ECI has also placed on record a status report, giving details of the directions issued to the District Electoral Officers (DEOs) as well as the reports received back from them. “The Commission had asked all 38 DEOs to furnish the status of compliance with the Court’s orders, and these have now been compiled and submitted,” the person said.
CEC Gyanesh Kumar, at a press conference on Sunday had said that the Commission has complied with SC’s directives in “56 hours.”
The Court, on August 14, had recorded the ECI’s consent to adopt interim measures designed to improve transparency in the electoral roll revision. These measures require the online publication of the names of nearly sixty-five lakh voters who appeared in the 2025 rolls but are missing from the draft rolls. Each district’s website is to host booth-wise data, searchable by EPIC number, along with reasons for exclusion. The Bench had set a deadline of August 19 for completing the exercise.
To ensure that the exercise is not limited to digital publication, the Bench also directed wide publicity. “The lists must be publicised in vernacular newspapers with wide circulation and broadcast on television and radio,” the Court noted, adding that district-level officials should also use their social media platforms to alert voters. Further, the booth-level officers were instructed to display the excluded-voter lists at Block Development Offices or Panchayat offices, so that citizens in rural areas could physically inspect them.
The Bench also required that the notices should expressly inform citizens that they may file claims for inclusion in the rolls, accompanied by a copy of their Aadhaar card. A consolidated state-level list is also to be made available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar. “The idea is to ensure that no eligible voter is left without recourse,” the Bench had observed while fixing the matter for monitoring on August 22.
Friday’s hearing, advanced to 12 pm from the initially scheduled 2 pm, is expected to be brief as Justice Bagchi, who leads the Bench, has to preside over a special bench at 3 pm. “The court might give further directions after taking a note of the report,” the person cited earlier said.