Bihar poll dates out, little room for judicial intervention in SIR

With the Election Commission (EC) setting Bihar’s Assembly election process in motion, the Supreme Court hearing on the legality of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls – the next hearing is on Tuesday — is unlikely to affect this election as Article 329 of the Constitution curtails judicial intervention once the poll process starts.

At a press conference on Monday, the EC announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections: voting will be held in two phases, on November 6 and 11, and counting on November 14. The notification for the first phase will be issued on October 10 and for the second phase on October 13.

Once the election process begins, courts usually do not interfere. Article 329 places a “bar to interference by courts in electoral matters”. Clause (a) s