New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Kerala State Election Commission (SEC) to file their responses by December 1 on petitions seeking the postponement of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala ahead of elections to the Local Self-Government Institutions (LSGIs).
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued the direction while hearing pleas filed by the Kerala government and several political parties, including the CPI-M, the CPI, and the Indian Union Muslim League. The petitions challenge the ECI’s order mandating intensive revision of the voters’ list in the state.
Opposing the pleas, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, accused political parties of “creating a scare” over the SIR process. He informed the Bench that the revision exercise was progressing smoothly and was close to completion.
“Ninety-nine per cent of voters have been supplied enumeration forms, and more than 50 per cent have already been digitised,” he submitted, adding that the ECI and the State Election Commission were coordinating the exercise.
“The State Election Commission and the Election Commission of India are collaborating. District-level meetings have been held. There’s no problem; we need only a small section of BLOs. If the SEC needs to use some of the officials allocated to us, they are free to do so,” he said.
Responding, the Bench observed, “It is a matter of a few days only.”
The court initially considered listing the matter on December 9, but shifted the hearing to December 2 after petitioners pointed out that local body polling in the state begins on December 9 and sought an urgent hearing.
In its plea, the Kerala government argued that conducting the SIR alongside the LSGI elections scheduled for December 9 and 11 would “cripple” administrative manpower. It said there is a constitutional mandate to complete the polls before December 21 under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, and the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994.
According to the petition, over 1.76 lakh government and quasi-government personnel and 68,000 security staff are required for the local body elections, while the SIR demands an additional 25,668 officials—most drawn from the same limited pool. Rushing the verification process “when constitutional elections are underway goes counter to the democratic right of franchise”, it argued, noting that the Assembly elections are due only in May 2026.
The Kerala High Court had earlier declined to adjudicate the issue, noting that similar challenges to SIR exercises in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal were pending before the Supreme Court.
The matter will now be heard on December 2 after the ECI and SEC file their affidavits.
With IANS inputs