The Supreme Court on Monday said the Election Commission should focus on “mass inclusion” rather than “en masse exclusion” while revising the electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections, The Hindu reported.

The court reiterated its July 10 directions asking the poll body to consider adding Aadhaar cards and voter identity cards to the list of valid documents for the ongoing exercise. However, it refused to restrain the Election Commission from publishing the draft voter list on August 1.

The court will on Tuesday fix a time for the final hearing of the case, PTI reported.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Election Commission’s decision to exclude the two documents from the list of acceptable proof of citizenship for those whose names did not appear in the 2003 electoral roll.

In an affidavit filed on July 21, the poll body maintained that Aadhaar and ration cards could not be included as standalone valid documents. It argued that such documents can be obtained through fraudulent means, which was why they were not sufficient.

In response to this, the court said that any of the documents listed by the poll body could be forged and questioned the rationale behind excluding Aadhaar and voter identity card from its list, Bar and Bench reported.

“Include these two documents,” the legal news outlet quoted the bench as saying. “Tomorrow you may see not only Aadhaar but out of 11 they can also be forged. That's a separate issue…Please include Aadhaar.”

The revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission on June 24.

As part of the exercise, persons whose names were not on the 2003 voter list will need to submit proof of eligibility to vote. This means that 2.9 crore out of the state’s 7.8 crore voters – or about 37% of the electors – will have to submit documentary evidence.

Voters born before July 1, 1987, must show proof of their date and place of birth, while those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, must also submit documents establishing the date and place of birth of one of their parents. Those born after December 2, 2004, will need proof of date of birth for themselves and both parents.

If the officers are satisfied with the details provided, the voters will be re-enrolled to a new voter list by electoral registration officers. If not, they will be removed from the voter lists.

A draft roll will be published on August 1 and the final roll will be out on September 30.

On July 2, eleven INDIA bloc parties told the Election Commission that the special intensive revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls risked disenfranchising more than 2.5 crore voters, as they may not be able to produce the necessary documents.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on July 6 defended the exercise, claiming that the exercise had to be carried out as no one was satisfied with the current voter rolls.

65 lakh names may be removed: EC

The Election Commission on Sunday said that 91.6% electors in Bihar had submitted their enumeration forms for the special intensive revision of the state’s electoral rolls by the end of the first phase of the exercise on Friday.

The poll panel said that more than 7.2 crore out of the state’s 7.8 crore electors had submitted the forms by the deadline, indicating “overwhelming participation”.

This would mean that the remaining 65 lakh names registered in the July 2025 list may not make it to the draft rolls to be published on August 1.

The poll body also reiterated that the draft electoral roll to be published on August 1 was not the final voter list, adding that a month’s time would be given to include eligible electors and exclude those ineligible.

Also read: Bihar voter roll revision: Why having to prove you are an Indian citizen is a nightmare