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The Supreme Court will hear RJD’s plea to extend Bihar voter list claims deadline, citing over one lakh recent claims and issues with Aadhaar acceptance by electoral officers.
According to RJD, over 1 lakh claims were filed in the past week, with 33,349 in just the last two days. (File photo)
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on September 1 a petition filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), seeking more time to allow people to file claims and objections in the ongoing update of the voter list in Bihar. The current deadline ends on September 1.
Led by Justice Surya Kant, the SC bench listed the matter for Monday after urgent mention by advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior counsel Shoeb Alam.
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When asked if the request had first been made to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Bhushan said a representation had been submitted but was ignored.
In its petition, RJD has asked the apex court to direct the poll body to extend the deadline till September 15, citing a sharp rise in claims from excluded voters. According to the party, over one lakh claims were filed in the past week, with 33,349 in just the last two days.
“As per the ECI’s own daily SIR (special intensive revision) update, the number of claims have increased and more than one lakh claims filed in the last one week. 33,349 claims have been filed in the last two days. The period of filing claims expires on 01-09-2025. Unless extended, genuine electors whose names have been erroneously deleted by the EC will not be able to submit their claims and consequently will be barred from exercising their right to vote in the coming elections,” the plea states.
The party also noted that ECI guidelines prohibit suo motu deletions in an election year and warned that a shortened timeline could compromise the accuracy of the rolls.
The RJD pointed to a sharp rise in claims—from 84,305 on August 22 to 1,78,948 on August 27—after the court allowed Aadhaar to be used as valid ID for claims on August 22.
Additionally, RJD alleged that some electoral officers were still demanding one of 11 specific IDs listed in a June 24 ECI notification, ignoring the court’s order. It urged the ECI to publicize the ruling and ensure Aadhaar-based claims are accepted.
This development comes a week after the top court criticized political parties in the state for failing to assist voters removed from the draft rolls—nearly 6.5 million names in total.
About the Author
Manisha Roy is a Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com’s general desk. She comes with an experience of over 5 years in media industry. She covers politics and other hard news. She can be contacted at Manisha.Roy@nw18…Read More
Manisha Roy is a Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com’s general desk. She comes with an experience of over 5 years in media industry. She covers politics and other hard news. She can be contacted at Manisha.Roy@nw18… Read More
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