THE SUPREME COURT TODAY directed the Election Commission of India (‘ECI’) to file a comprehensive response to a plea by the NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (‘ADR’), which has sought constituency-wise and booth-wise disclosure of the names and reasons for deletion of nearly 65 lakh voters from the draft electoral rolls published on August 1, 2025, following the Special Intensive Revision (‘SIR’) exercise in Bihar.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N. Kotiswar Singh directed the ECI to submit its response by Saturday, August 9, and provide a copy to advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared on behalf of ADR. The matter will now be heard on August 12.
Besides the list of deleted electors, ADR has also sought the publication of names and booth-level details of voters whose enumeration forms have been marked “recommended” or “not recommended” for inclusion in draft rolls by Booth Level Officers (‘BLOs’).
Bhushan submitted that the ECI’s July 25 press note indicated that approximately 65 lakh voters were dropped due to various reasons — 22 lakh were deceased, 7 lakh were registered in multiple places, and 35 lakh had either migrated or were untraceable. However, he contended that the ECI has neither published the names nor shared complete lists with all political parties, thereby undermining public verification and transparency.
“This information is crucial. The draft roll shows 65 lakh names omitted. But we don't know who they are,” Bhushan argued, “The Commission claims they are dead, migrated, or duplicates, but it hasn’t disclosed any names.”. Further, he argued that out of eight crore electors, those who submitted forms were subject to BLO scrutiny. But there is no data published on how many were marked recommended or not recommended by BLOs.
