Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra Challenges Election Commission's Voter Roll Revision in Supreme Court
Mahua Moitra's Legal Challenge
New Delhi: Mahua Moitra, a Member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress, has approached the Supreme Court to contest the Election Commission of India's (ECI) directive for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, expressing concerns that this could set a precedent for a similar process in West Bengal.
In her legal filing, represented by advocate Neha Rathi, Moitra asserted that she possesses information indicating that the SIR process is planned for West Bengal starting August 2025, with instructions already issued to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).
Her petition not only disputes the ECI's order for Bihar but also seeks to prevent the commission from implementing similar revisions in other states across the nation.
The petition argues that this marks the first instance in India where the ECI is requiring voters, whose names are already on the rolls and who have voted in previous elections, to re-establish their eligibility. It warns that if the ECI's June 26 order is upheld, it could lead to widespread disenfranchisement of eligible voters, undermining democratic processes and the integrity of elections.
According to the petition, the SIR order mandates that voters must provide citizenship documentation, including proof of citizenship from one or both parents, to retain their names on the electoral rolls. This requirement is claimed to violate Article 326 of the Constitution and introduces qualifications not recognized by the Constitution or the Representation of People Act, 1950.
The petition further contends that the June 26 directive is unlawful as it presumes a voter's ineligibility unless they can furnish specific documents from a limited list of 11, including those of their parents, thus contravening the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Additionally, the order excludes widely accepted identity documents like Aadhaar and ration cards from the list of acceptable proofs, imposing an undue burden on voters who risk disenfranchisement.
The petition highlights that many residents in rural and marginalized communities in Bihar face imminent disenfranchisement due to these stringent requirements.
It describes the demand for voters to reprove their eligibility as 'absurd,' given that most have already participated in multiple elections based on their existing qualifications.
The petition also notes that Bihar's electoral rolls underwent a Special Summary Revision (SSR) between October 2024 and January 2025, which included updates and removals based on various eligibility criteria. Therefore, the ECI's decision to conduct a second revision in such a harsh manner in a state preparing for elections is deemed unjustifiable.