New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed “serious doubts” over the Election Commission’s plan to hold a ‘special intensive revision’ (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls months before the Assembly election. The Apex court told the poll panel, “Your exercise is not the problem... it is the timing. We have serious doubts if you can manage this exercise. With such a big population (an estimated eight crore people) being subject to this ‘intensive review’, is it possible to link this to the forthcoming election?”

The court also asked the poll panel tough questions about an individual’s right to appeal a potential exclusion from the list of voters. “... a person will be disenfranchised ahead of the election, and s/he won’t have the time to defend the exclusion before voting,” Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia noted. “No... courts will not touch electoral roll once finalised... which means a disenfranchised person will lack the option to challenge it (the revised list) before the election,” he said, when urged by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, to allow the revision to be completed before ruling.