Prashant Bhushan blames EC for lack of transparency in SIR process

Advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted successful the Supreme Court connected Thursday (December 4, 2025) that the Election Commission, during the Bihar SIR, issued ‘cyclostyled’ notices to 26 lakh people, asking them to beryllium their eligibility. 

He alleged that determination were inactive lakhs of duplicate voters near successful the last Bihar electoral rotation prepared station the SIR exercise.

Appearing earlier a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Mr. Bhushan, representing NGO Association for Democratic Reforms on with advocator Neha Rathi, criticised the EC for its ‘lack of transparency astatine each signifier of the SIR exercise’.

“The EC did not disclose the database of voters deleted from 2025 rotation until forced to bash truthful by the Supreme Court successful an August 14 order,” Mr. Bhushan submitted.

He argued that though EC’s property notices had indicated the fig of claims and objections received, these were not made disposable online successful the required ‘clickable’ format, that is, a format by which the forms could beryllium accessed by clicking connected the introduction successful the list.

He submitted that the EC had brought connected grounds neither the 2003 Intensive Revision Guidelines nor the grounds of having conducted a anterior enquiry to substantiate the request for a “hurried” SIR.

“The EC did not behaviour immoderate software-based de-duplication workout during the Bihar SIR starring to an approximate 15 lakh suspected duplicated voters successful Bihar’s electoral roll,” helium submitted with notation to media reports.

A akin destiny was bound to travel successful the 2nd signifier of the SIR if the EC continued to disregard the de-duplication bundle to weed retired duplicate, fake oregon aggregate entries aft tract verification, helium cautioned.

He said electoral lists and the lists of claims and objections, arsenic good arsenic aged electoral rolls, indispensable beryllium made disposable by EC successful a machine-readable format to guarantee transparency and access.