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Petitions from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Other States Flag Concerns Over SIR
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a fresh set of petitions questioning the legality and conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway in multiple states.
A Bench of Justice Surya Kant, Justice SVN Bhatti and Justice Joymalya Bagchi agreed to examine new pleas filed from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and other states, after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for a Kerala petitioner, pointed out that the state is headed for local body elections.
Kerala Petitions Listed for Nov 26; Others in Early December
Taking note of the urgency in Kerala, the Bench directed that petitions related to the state be listed on November 26. Petitions from other states will be heard in the first or second week of December, the court said.
The Bench led by Justice Kant is already hearing separate challenges to the ECI’s SIR notifications—particularly those relating to Bihar and 12 other states/UTs—and has earlier refused to stay the ongoing exercise in Bihar.
Challenges Mounting Across States
On November 11, the Supreme Court had sought individual responses from the Election Commission on petitions filed by DMK, CPI(M), West Bengal Congress and Trinamool Congress leaders questioning the SIR process in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Petitioners have alleged procedural irregularities, large-scale deletions, and a lack of statutory basis for the exercise.
The SIR exercise is currently being conducted in 12 states and Union Territories:
Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
DMK Says EC Overstepping Authority
While the EC’s original June 24 SIR notification is already under challenge, the DMK has now contested the October 27 notification as well, calling it a case of “constitutional overreach”. The party has argued that the ECI lacks statutory authority to carry out this special revision independent of the timelines prescribed under the Representation of the People Act.
EC Defends Bihar SIR as ‘Accurate’; Denies Bias Allegations
In its earlier response filed on October 16, the Election Commission strongly defended the Bihar SIR, saying it had been conducted with complete accuracy and transparency. The Commission asserted that the petitioner NGOs and political parties were making “false allegations” aimed solely at discrediting the revision process.
The EC stated that no voter had filed an appeal regarding alleged wrongful deletions after the publication of the final electoral roll. It also categorically denied allegations that the SIR exercise led to “disproportionate exclusion of Muslims” from the state’s voter list.
