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Citizenship Test Through Bihar’s SIR
Decoding ECI’s counter affidavit on SIR
Context: The Election Commission of India (ECI) filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court on July 21, 2025, defending its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
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- However, scrutiny of the affidavit—running 789 pages including annexures—raises several legal, constitutional, and operational concerns about the validity and inclusiveness of this large-scale citizenship verification exercise.
What Triggered the Citizenship Test in Bihar?
- Electoral Roll Defects: The affidavit includes over 625 pages of annexures mostly comprising complaints about electoral roll defects received during 2024–2025.
- Not of Bihar: Significantly, none of the complaints pertain to Bihar, nor do they allege inclusion of illegal migrants from nations like Bangladesh or Myanmar.
- Duplication: The issues raised mostly concern duplication, deceased voters, exclusions, and fake entries—routine matters addressed under regular electoral revision processes.
- ECI’s Stand: Yet, the ECI’s affidavit uses these to justify a citizenship-centric de novo revision, without presenting any concrete evidence specific to Bihar.
Is the ECI Legally Empowered to Conduct a Citizenship Verification?
- The ECI cites Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to assert its power to prepare electoral rolls afresh.
- However, this interpretation is fraught with legal inconsistencies:
- Burden of Proof: SIR shifts the burden of citizenship proof onto all existing electors, despite them being enrolled through established due processes.
- No Evidence of Illegal Migrants: The affidavit fails to present any Bihar-specific data showing large-scale inclusion of non-citizens.
- Fuzzy Legal Basis: The law recognises “special revisions” but does not define “intensive” revisions. Even the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which were amended in 1987 to include intensive revisions, lack clarity or precise guidelines on their implementation.
Why Is the 2003 Electoral Roll Being Privileged?
- The ECI argues that those listed in the 2003 electoral rolls need not submit fresh documents under SIR 2025.
- Children of these voters are also permitted to use this as proof. Yet, the original 2003 SIR guidelines are not annexed, and it remains unclear whether the 2003 roll was created through a thorough house-to-house citizenship verification.
- Moreover, privileging data from 2003 over the more recent rolls of the past 20 years appears arbitrary and lacks statutory backing.
- The affidavit’s rationale here undermines procedural fairness and potentially violates the principle of equality before law.
Are the CAA 2003 Criteria Constitutionally Valid?
- The affidavit incorporates controversial citizenship criteria from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, including requirements for birth records of parents or even grandparents depending on the elector’s date of birth. However:
- The constitutionality of the CAA 2003 remains sub judice before the Supreme Court.
- The NRC process, integral to this scheme, was never initiated by the Registrar General of India, except in Assam.
Is the SIR Process Inclusive and Transparent?
- According to the affidavit, over 90% of Bihar’s 7.89 crore electors have submitted their enumeration forms—but the key detail is that many did so without attaching required documents.
- The scrutiny phase by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will begin only after the publication of draft rolls on August 1, 2025.
- Furthermore:
- 21.35 lakh voters (2.7%) had not submitted forms as of July 22.
- 53 lakh voters (6.7%) were not found at their registered addresses.
- Over 31.5 lakh electors were marked as permanently migrated and 21.6 lakh as deceased.
- Constituency-wise data on such exclusions is not provided, raising concerns over possible disenfranchisement of specific demographics.
Why Is the ECI Rejecting Aadhaar and Ration Cards?
The ECI rejects Aadhaar and ration cards as valid proof citing:
- Aadhaar’s lack of citizenship validity, and
- Widespread fake ration cards.
- This is contradictory. The SIR 2025 enumeration form itself seeks Aadhaar details, and residence certificates—also vulnerable to forgery—are being accepted despite their number exceeding the total population of Bihar.
What Could Be the Consequences of This Citizenship Drive?
- If implemented in its current form, the Bihar SIR could mirror the Assam NRC debacle, which took four years and cost the exchequer ₹1,600 crore—only to be disowned by both supporters and opponents.
- The insistence on unilateral documentary proof of citizenship in a resource-poor, low-literacy environment may trigger:
- Large-scale disenfranchisement
- Administrative burden
- Social and political unrest
