Amid questions being raised about the Election Commission of India’s electoral roll revision in poll-bound Bihar through the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, a look at election rules show that the term does not exist.According to Rule 25(1) of The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, electoral rolls can be revised “either intensively or summarily or partly intensively and partly summarily, as the Election Commission may direct.” The Election Commission’s own website lists frequently asked questions or FAQs relating to the updating of electoral rolls and has a fourth category – ‘Special Summary Revision.’ The Representation of the People Act, 1950 empowers the Election Commission to revise electoral rolls and conduct ‘special revisions’. The term Special Intensive Revision – now being used by the Election Commission in its Bihar exercise does not find mention in either. While questions have been raised about the electoral roll revision being a citizenship verification exercise, in a departure from previous exercises it does away with the sanctity of the existing electoral rolls and introduces a distinction between voters enrolled before 2003 – when the last intensive revision was conducted according to the commission – in the form of presumption of citizenship and the lack thereof for those after.While the Bihar SIR is asking for proof of citizenship, Form 4 which flows from Rule 8 of The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, does not seek any proof of citizenship and only requires a self declaration by the head of the household. Form 6 for the inclusion of names too does not require any proof of citizenship. These departures from past practice raise serious questions.‘Creation, maintenance and purification of electoral rolls has a well defined legacy for decades’The Election Commission’s website provides a ‘Note explaining process of annual revision/updation of Electoral Rolls along with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).’ This states that the “creation, maintenance and purification of ER – a core constitutional responsibility of the ECI – has a well-defined and meticulously followed legacy over decades.”“The credibility of the process is organically linked to data/facts over several revisions and continuous updation of previous data sets. The process is ensconced in a watertight statutory scheme which is rule based.”The commission further says it makes all out efforts to make the electoral roll pure, healthy and inclusive within the given framework of Article 324 of the Constitution of India, provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, Registration of the Electors Rules, 1960 and the extant instructions issued by the Commission from time to time.”Also read: Eight (and a Half) Rules the ECI Broke to Manufacture a ‘Success Story for Bihar SIRThe Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 and a fourth categoryThe Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 which provides under Rule 25 the statutory rules for revision of electoral rolls, lists three types of revision – intensive or summary or partly intensively and partly summarily. But does not mention ‘Special Intensive Revision’ as the one being conducted in Bihar.An intensive revision implies that the electoral rolls will be made afresh – including the door-to-door verification drive, without any reference to any existing electoral roll.A summary revision on the other hand is an annual exercise. In it, a draft electoral roll is prepared and published, and claims and objections are invited on discrepancies on the rolls which are then adjudicated on. Following this, a final roll is published.The third type – ‘partly intensively and partly summarily’ – combines the two modes of revising the electoral rolls.The Election Commission on its website also adds a fourth category of ‘special summary revision’.“Nowadays, the Commission orders Summary revision with certain special characteristics, with intensive pre-revision activities like house-to-house verification, rationalization of polling stations, special campaign dates etc., hence it is called Special Summary Revision,” the commission says.It also adds in the same note that all political parties are fully aware of the SoPs for special summary revision (SSR) and the special measures taken during SSR. “Additions and deletions take place after due enquiry, in full public view and with participation of political parties at every stage of the process. Being an annual revision exercise, only changes during the period of revision get updated that too after sharing relevant details with political parties and the public at large,” it says.Former chief election commissioner O.P. Rawat said that while the law provides for only summary and intensive revisions, “special” is added by the Election Commission when they do not “conform to the template of the revision under the law but tinker with certain elements.” Also read: EC ‘Subjecting 2.9 Cr Voters to Rigorous Exercise to Identify Handful Illegal Immigrants’: Ex-CEC O.P. Rawat on Bihar SIR“Under the law there are only two types of revision – summary and intensive. Special is added by the Election Commission when they do not conform to the template of the revision under the law but tinker with certain elements. Intensive means house to house surveys, filling up of the forms by the BLO, among others. Since all those things have been done away with – basically pre-filled forms are being distributed – they are calling it a Special Intensive Revision in Bihar,” he said to The Wire.Rawat also shed light on the thin difference between the types in practice.“Same thing applies for summary revision where the general summary revision according to the law is that you publish the draft roll and call for claims, objections, applications within 30 days and whatever claims, objections, applications come adjudicate it in 30 days and then publish the final roll. But at times, this is not available. So they call it a special summary revision and do a truncated exercise. Special is only that much in that if it is not exhaustively having all characteristics of that revision it will be called ‘special’. So they are almost the same. Not that much difference.”‘Nomenclature used probably for the first time’Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa has meanwhile said that while revision of electoral rolls is a legitimate and regular exercise undertaken by the Election Commission, the nomenclature Special Intensive Revision is “probably being used for the first time”.“An intensive revision is also possible for the commission to undertake but that is done in areas where there are specific inputs that are received. In this Special Intensive Revision which is a nomenclature that has been used probably for the first time, the normal processes outlined by the commission are different on two counts,” he told Karan Thapar in an interview for The Wire.“One there is a division between voters that were enrolled upto 2003 and those enrolled after 2003. The second dimension is that the EC in its order of June 24, said for all those enrolled before 2003 there is evidence and presumption of citizenship. That is a contentious issue,” he also said.On June 24 the EC issued instructions for holding the SIR in Bihar, stating that the last such exercise was conducted in the state in 2003. The commission, in announcing the house-to-house verification exercise, said that it had been necessitated due to various reasons, among which was the inclusion of “foreign illegal immigrants” in the electoral roll. According to a 19-page letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar with the subject – ‘Special Intensive Revision w.r.t. 01.07.2025 as the qualifying date’ – the form for electors shows that those born before July 1, 1987 will have to prove their date and/or place of birth. Those born between July 1, 1987-December 2, 2004 will have to prove their date of birth and the date/place of birth of one of their parents. Those born after December 2, 2004 will on the other hand have to prove their date/place of birth as well as that of both their parents.“Everyone has to be verified under intensive revisions. But this time the Election Commission made a distinction,” said Rawat.“Because time was short they thought it prudent that 2003-since the last intensive revision was conducted-all those who find their name in the 2003 rolls need not submit any proof. They will be deemed citizens and they can submit their enumeration forms along with the reference to the 2003 rolls and that will be good enough. These people are about 65% which means about 5 crores. But as a necessary corollary, the remaining 2.97 crores are required to prove their citizenship,” said Rawat.Form 4 which flows from Rule 8 of The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, does not seek any proof of citizenship and only requires a self declaration by the head of the household, including names, those of parents, and proof of age.Form 4.Form 6, for inclusion of new voters or for shifting from one constituency to the other, too does not require any proof of citizenship and is a self declaration form of citizenship.Form 6.What of the sanctity of the existing electoral rolls?Legal experts say that while the Election Commission can revise electoral rolls, even with a new nomenclature, the process by which the present exercise is being carried out does away with the sanctity of the existing electoral rolls.“They have never done a special intensive revision. Whether it has the power to do so, possibly yes, under Section 23(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1950 as has been argued in the Supreme Court,” said a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, who requested anonymity.“The problem with this process is yes there are different kinds of revisions that can be done. But the existing electoral list cannot be undone without notice. The challenge here is if a form is not submitted, the person is out of the roll which is the prima facie illegal. Irrespective of the nomenclature used, there are certain parameters which have to be followed for any revision. If you are doing revision, that effectively means that there is already a list which has sanctity, which cannot be knocked out.”Section 21 of The Representation of the Peoples Act, 1950 empowers the Election Commission to revise electoral rolls and conduct “special revisions of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit.”“Provided that subject to the other provisions of this Act, the electoral roll for the constituency, as in force at the time of the issue of any such direction, shall continue to be in force until the completion of the special revision so directed,” it adds.Under Section 22, the Act empowers the electoral registration officer to correct entries in electoral rolls in case they are erroneous or defective in nature, or should they be transposed to another place, or deleted on the grounds of death, no longer ordinarily a resident in the constituency or otherwise entitled to be registered in the rolls.It however adds that such corrections in the roll may be made after the electoral registration officer provides the person concerned “a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of the action proposed to be taken in relation to him [after proper verification of facts in such manner as may be prescribed].”Of Bihar’s 7.9 crore voters, the Election Commission on July 17 said that 35.6 lakhs have not been found at their address so far – which includes those who are probably deceased, permanently shifted, or enrolled at multiple places. The ongoing door-to-door checks will continue till July 26. The draft electoral roll will be published on August 1. Voters will have until September 1 to make claims and objections and the final electoral roll is set to be published on September 30.“Even if 1% of Bihar’s 7.9 crore is excluded, because of this that is about 8 lakh people are out of electoral rolls. That is the magnitude of this exercise. The documentation being asked from those after 2003 is problematic because several do not even provide date or place of birth. But the larger issue is that the sanctity of the existing electoral roll has been given a go by,” said the senior advocate.Note: Details were added to this article, on two EC forms, since publication.Read The Wire’s full coverage of the Bihar SIR here.