SC to continue hearing on pleas against SIR in Bihar on Monday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Monday resume hearing a set of petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, a move by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that has sparked sharp political and legal debates ahead of the 2025 Assembly polls.

According to the causelist uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi will take up the matter on September 8.

Last week, the bench declined to extend the September 1 deadline fixed by the ECI for filing claims and objections to the draft rolls published after the first phase of the SIR. The poll panel assured the court, however, that objections received after September 1 but before the last date of nominations would still be considered.

The petitions, including those filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other parties, sought an extension of the deadline for submitting claims. In its September 1 order, the court recorded that “the process of consideration of claims will continue till the last date of nominations. Let the claims/objections be continued to be filed.”

The bench also directed the Bihar State Legal Services Authority to deploy para legal volunteers to help voters and political parties file online claims, objections or corrections.

Meanwhile, sources said the ECI is examining the possibility of conducting SIR nationwide. A meeting of all state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) has been convened in Delhi on September 10, to be attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the two Election Commissioners, and senior officials.

The issue carries wider significance with assembly elections due next year in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, where the poll body is also expected to push for the SIR exercise.