Kerala argues the SIR is unnecessary and poorly timed, while the IUML says the revision is arbitrary, risks voter exclusion, and places excessive pressure on Booth Level Officers.
Both petitions contend there is no constitutional or statutory need to conduct the SIR alongside local polls and that deferring it would not cause any prejudice.
The IUML also flagged the recent death of a Booth Level Officer, alleging severe work pressure from the SIR exercise.
SIR Row: Kerala Govt, IUML Ask Supreme Court To Halt Electoral Roll Revision
The Kerala Government and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) have moved the Supreme Court seeking an immediate halt to the Election Commission of India’s SIR of electoral rolls, arguing that the exercise clashes with upcoming local body elections and imposes unrealistic workloads on officials
Summary
The Kerala Government and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) have filed petitions in the Supreme Court seeking to halt or defer the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The Kerala Government has asked the Court to postpone the SIR at least until after the forthcoming local body elections, arguing that the timing is incompatible with the State’s electoral calendar.
It stresses that Kerala’s 1,200 local bodies, comprising 23,612 wards, are due for elections on December 9 and 11, 2025, with counting on December 13 and the process would conclude by December 18. Conducting these elections requires around 1.76 lakh personnel and 68,000 police and security staff, while the SIR would need an additional 25,668 personnel.
Running both exercises simultaneously, the State contends, would overburden the administration, disrupt routine government work, and risk an administrative deadlock.
Kerala also points to direct clashes in timelines: SIR enumeration ends on December 4, with data submission due on December 9, coinciding with the polling dates. Final rolls are scheduled for publication on February 7, 2026.
The Government argues that pressing ahead would compromise the quality of verification during a constitutionally mandated election and that no urgent circumstances justify a special revision, especially as the Lok Sabha elections 2024 have, that the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly began its sessions on May 24, 2021, and the next Assembly elections need only be completed before May 24, 2026.
Kerala further argues that there is no urgency to complete the SIR now and that the ECI has not provided any special reasons for carrying out a special revision in the State.
“Contrary to the constitutional and statutory mandate for completion of the 2025 elections to the LSGIs in the State before 21 December 2025, there is no constitutional or statutory mandate or any emergent necessity to complete the SIR simultaneously with the LSGI elections in the State. The ECI has also not made out any special reasons for conduct of a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in the State. Therefore, no prejudice will be caused to any side if the SIR stands deferred in the State till the completion of LSGI elections,” the plea states.
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The IUML, in a separate writ petition filed by general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, seeks an immediate halt to the SIR, calling the ECI’s October 27 notification “arbitrary” and its timelines “unrealistic”. The party argues that a special revision cannot run parallel to an active election process and should not overwrite a valid electoral roll without any finding of fraud, duplication, or systemic irregularity. It contends that the exercise undermines established electoral practice and the integrity of the poll process.
The petition argues that the SIR was ordered without any finding of fraud, duplication, or systemic irregularities in the Kerala electoral rolls. The party calls the revision an “attempt to overwrite a valid electoral roll and impose sweeping re-verification requirements,” describing it as unreasonable and disproportionate.
In its application seeking a stay on the process, the IUML also referred to the death of Booth Level Officer Aneesh George in Kerala on Sunday. It has been alleged that he died by suicide due to extreme work pressure linked to the SIR exercise. The plea notes that BLOs have complained of being on the field from 7 am to 8 pm, including weekends, and say it is “humanly impossible” to complete the required door-to-door work within the one-month timeline, especially with local polls underway.
“The only intention behind conducting this SIR during the election period, and with such compressed timelines, is to exclude as many voters as possible from the draft list,” the plea alleges, calling the move a violation of citizens’ voting rights and the provisions of the Constitution and the RP Act.
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Both petitions emphasise that neither the Constitution nor any statute requires the SIR to be completed alongside the local body elections, and that no prejudice would result from deferring it until the electoral process concludes.
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