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2026 Supreme(SC) 595

SURYA KANT, JOYMALYA BAGCHI
Association For Democratic Reforms – Appellant
Versus
Election Commission of India – Respondent


Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Ms. Fauzia Shakil, AOR Ms. Aparajita Jamwal, Adv. Ms. Tasmiya Talha, Adv. Mr. P.C. Sen, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prasanna S., AOR Mr. Sayantan Chanda, Adv. Ms. Injila Muslim Zaidi, Adv. Mr. Ashish Reddy, Adv. Ms. Apoorva Singh, Adv. Mr. Prasanna B, Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prashant Bhushan, AOR Ms. Neha Rathi, Adv. Mr. Tushan Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Sourya Dasgupta, Adv. Ms. Vrinda Grover, Adv. Mr. John Simte, Adv. Ms. Devika Tulsiani, Adv. Mr. Soutik Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Aakarsh Kamra, AOR Dr. K.S. Chauhan, Sr. Adv. Mr. P.S. Teji, Sr. Adv. Mr. Alok Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kriti Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Vishal, Adv. Mr. Amber Sachdeva, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Ajit Kumar Ekka, Adv. Ms. Sneh Suman, Adv. Ms. Shriya Sethi, Adv. Mr. Prem Prakash, Adv. Mr. Ravi Prakash, AOR Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prashanto Chandra Sen, Sr. Adv. Mr. Muhammad Ali Khan, Adv. Mr. Amit Bhandari, Adv. Mr. Omar Hoda, Adv. Ms. Eesha Bakshi, Adv. Mr. Uday Bhatia, Adv. Mr. Kamran Khan, Adv. Mr. Surya Kiran Singh, Adv. Mr. Aviral Jain, Adv. Mr. Usman Ghani Khan , AOR Mr. Shoeb Alam, Sr. Adv. Ms. Fauzia Shakil, AOR Mr. Ujjwal Singh, AOR Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Ms. Neha Rathi, AOR Ms. Kajal Giri, Adv. Mr. Amit Bhandari, Adv. Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, Adv. Ms. Priyansha Sharma, Adv. Ms. Somya Kumari, Adv. Mr. P. Rohit Ram, Adv. Mr. Prateek Yadav, Adv. Mr. Shadan Farasat, Sr. Adv. Mr. Kaustubh Chaturvedi, Adv. Mr. Harshit Anand, Adv. Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR Mr. Shikhar Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Joshua Tom Thomas, Adv. Mr. Raju Ramachandran, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prasanna S., AOR Mr. R. Thirumoorthy, Adv. Mr. Paras Nath Singh, Adv. Ms. Rupali Samuel, Adv. Ms. Shruti Narayan, Adv. Mr. Mohammad Areet, Adv. Ms. Injila Muslim Zaidi, Adv. Mr. Ashish Reddy, Adv. Mr. Apoorva Singh, Adv. Mr. Prasanna B, Adv. Ms. Nida Khan Salim, Adv. Mr. Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, Adv. Mr. Ashwani Kumar Dubey, AOR Ms. Nandini Rai, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Upadhyay, Adv. Mr. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, AOR Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Mishra, AOR Mr. Ajit Sharma, Adv. Ms. Kanchan Kumar, Adv. Mr. Satvik Bajaj, Adv. Mr. Ravi Ranjan Mishra, Adv. Mr. Utsav Madaan, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sood, Adv. Mr. Aditya Jha, Adv. Mr. Haris Beeran, Adv. Mr. Azhar Assees, Adv. Mr. Anand B. Menon, Adv. Mr. Shaswat Jena, Adv. Ms. Rizwana R. Raj, Adv. Mr. Radha Shyam Jena, AOR Ms. Neema, AOR Mr. Raja Choudhary, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, AOR Ms. Rashmi Singh, Adv. Ms. Pinky Behera, AOR Mr. Atif Inam, AOR Mr. Abishek Jebaraj, AOR Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR. Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv.
For the Respondent(s): Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Eklavya Dwivedi , AOR Mr. Mohd. Yasir, Adv. Mr. Kumar Utsav, Adv. Mr. Ashish Shukla, Adv. Ms. Anamika Mishra, Adv. Ms. Simran Parmar, Adv. Ms. Saumya Goswami, Adv. Ms. Sakshi Sharma, Adv. Ms. Srishti Sarrf, Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sidhant Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR Mr. Prabhas Bajaj, Adv. Ms. Manyaa Chandok, Adv. Mr. Om Batra, Adv. Ms. Shreya Kasera, Adv. Mr. Ashish Shukla, Adv. Ms. Anamika Mishra, Adv. Mr. Sukumar Pattjoshi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Dama Seshadri Naidu, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prateek Kumar, AOR Ms. Raina Anand, Adv. Mr. Abhinav Thakur, Adv. Mr. Deepak Sharma, Adv. Ms. Teesha, Adv. Mr. Devansh Rai, Adv. Ms. Ankita, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Sansriti Pathak, Adv. Mr. Bhakti Vardhan Singh, Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh-ii, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Ms. Sansriti Pathak, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Bhakti Vardhan Singh, Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh-ii, Adv. Dr. N. Visakamurthy, AOR Mr. Shail Kumar Dwivedi, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv. Mr. Shadan Farasat, Sr. Adv. Mr. Kaustubh Chaturvedi, Adv. Mr. Harshit Anand, Adv. Mr. Yash S. Vijay, AOR Mr. Shikhar Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Joshua Tom Thomas, Adv. Mr. Shivam Singh, Adv. Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR Mr. Prashant Kumar Umrao, AOR Mr. Prateek Som, Adv. Mr. Akshat Bajpai, AOR Ms. Fauzia Shakil, AOR Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv. Ms. Ishika Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Mr. Gaj Singh, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Keshav Mittal, Adv. Ms. Yuvika Sharma, Adv. Mr. Affan Anish, Adv. Mr. Yashvir Singh Hooda, Adv. Mr. Arman Roop Sharma, Adv. Ms. Shimpy Arman Sharma, Adv. Mr. Mohd. Aman Khan Afghani, Adv. Ms. Priya Pachouri, Adv. Ms. Shivangi Goel, Adv. Mr. Pramod Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Vivek Tiwari, Adv. Ms. Priyanka Dubey, Adv. Dr. Vinod Kumar Tewari, AOR Mr. Anuj Tiwari, AOR Mr. Naveen Sharma, AOR Mrs. Swati Bhushan Sharma, Adv. Mr. S.k. Sharma, Adv. Ms. Payal Gola, Adv. Mr. Samarvir Singh, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Lenin Singh Hijam, Adv. Gen. (Sr. Adv.) Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Yatharth Kansal, Adv. Mr. Srikanth Varma Mudunuru, Adv. Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Debanjan Mandal, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Ms. Mahima Cholera, Adv. Ms. Shraddha Chirania, Adv. Ms. Aparajita Jamwal, Adv. Mr. Tushar Shrivastava, Adv. Mr. Shaurya Dasgupta, Adv. Ms. Mrinal Elkar Mazumdar,, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Verma, Adv. Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Sansriti Pathak, Adv. Mr. Bhakti Vardhan Singh, Adv. Mr. Prashant Singh Ii, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv. Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Nishesh Sharma, AOR Mr. Mohd Parvez Dabas, Adv. Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, AOR Mr. Uzmi Jamil Husain, Adv. Mr. Tabrez Ahmad, Adv. Mr. Kaleeswaram Raj, Adv. Mr. Mohammed Sadique T.a., AOR Mrs. Thulasi K Raj, Adv. Ms. Aparna Menon, Adv. Ms. Chinnu Maria Antony, Adv. Mr. Kailash Prashad Pandey, AOR Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv. Mr. Mahi Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Abhijit S. Kamble, Adv. Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv. Mr. Subhash S. Kadm, Adv. Mr. Varun Varma, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh, Adv. Mr. Javed Raza, Adv. Ms. Anushka K. Deshmhuk, Adv. Ms. Shreya Jha, Adv. Ms. Manisha Chawla, Adv. Ms. Niharika Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv. Ms. Charanjeet Sidhu, Adv. Mr. Desh Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Anupam Kumar, Adv. Mr. Jogender Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Raghavendra Pratap Singh, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Prince Raj, Adv. Mr. Prabhu Razdan, Adv. Mr. Dilip Kumar, Adv. Ms. Kumud Lata Das, AOR Mr. Bibhuti Krishna, Adv. Mr. Aman Anand, Adv. Mr. Ravi Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Siddhant Narayan Das, Adv. Ms. Pooja Rathore, Adv. Mr. Harsh Ajay Singh, Adv. Mr. Barun Kumar Sinha, Adv. Mrs. Pratibha Sinha, Adv. Mr. Sneh Vardhan, Adv. Mr. Chhail Bihari Singh, Adv. Mr. Rakesh Mudgal, Adv. Mr. Ritu Raj, Adv. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mrs. Kanika, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Singh, Adv. Mr. Anantha Narayana M.G., AOR Mr. Kalyan Bandopadhyay, Sr. Adv. Mr. Vivek Singh, AOR Mr. Abhisek Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Rahul Kumar Singh, Adv. Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Debanjan Mandal, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Ms. Mahima Cholera, Adv. Ms. Shraddha Chirania, Adv. Ms. Aparajita Jamwal, Adv. Mr. Tushar Shrivastava, Adv. Mr. Shaurya Dasgupta, Adv. Mr. Anilendra Pandey, AOR Ms. Aarati Sah, Adv. Mr. Animesh Shukla, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Kumar Rai, Sr. Adv. Ms. Farhat Naim, Adv. Mr. Vinay Kumar Rai, Adv. Mrs. Rajshree Rai, Adv. Ms. Modoyia Kayina, Adv. Mr. Paras Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Parimal Rai, Adv. Mr. Virendra Singh, Adv. Mr. Harish Gupta, Adv. M/s R And R Law Associates, AOR Mr. Anand Nandan, Adv. Mr. Kuldeep Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aashna Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Mr. Kumar Sambhrant Krishna, AOR Mr. Binay Kumar, Adv. Dr. Siddhartha Priya Ashok, AOR

JUDGMENT

SURYA KANT, CJI

1. Before any representative government can count votes, it must first know whose votes may be counted. The story of democracy is therefore not only a story of voting, but also of identifying the persons entitled to participate in the choice of government. The electoral roll is the legal record of that political community. For this reason, disputes concerning electoral rolls are never merely administrative. They go to the composition of the electorate and, in turn, to the foundation of representative government1 [Bernard Manin, The Principles of Representative Government 1–7, 161–83 (Cambridge Univ. Press 1997); Hanna Fenichel Pitkin, The Concept of Representation 1–13 (Univ. of Cal. Press 1967]. Across different periods and forms of political organisation, Indian history discloses a recurring concern. By what legal parameters is the body of citizens entitled to participate in public affairs to be identified?

2. Bihar stands at the beginning of that history. In the age of the Mahajanapadas, roughly between the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, the region now forming Bihar contained both monarchical and non-monarchical polities. Magadha and Anga were associated wi

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