Overview

• India’s top court directed Bihar legal services authorities to provide free counsel and para‑legal assistance to people excluded from the final SIR roll so they can file appeals, extending the benefit even to those absent from the draft list.
• The court also sought constituency‑ and booth‑level details for about 3.66 lakh voters who appeared in the draft but were left out of the final Bihar roll, noting confusion over the exclusions.
• Congress leaders and the party’s EAGLE group accused the Commission of opacity, citing the absence of a machine‑readable consolidated roll, alleging over five lakh duplicates, and questioning gaps between reported additions and available Form‑6 applications.
• The Election Commission enforced the Model Code of Conduct in Bihar, activated a 24x7 complaint system with 1950 and C‑Vigil, issued guidance against AI deepfakes with labeling requirements, and deployed about 8.5 lakh officials for the two‑phase polls on November 6 and 11 with counting on November 14.
• An ECI team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti told West Bengal districts to finish SIR preparatory work by mid‑October, even as the Commission has yet to finalize dates or guidelines for a nationwide SIR, delaying the usual annual summary revision calendar.