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New Delhi, Nov 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to immediately list a plea seeking postponement of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala in view of the upcoming elections to local self-government institutions (LSGIs).
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai said the matter will be listed on Friday (November 21), after the lawyer informed the apex court that the SIR process is going on even as local body elections are scheduled in Kerala in the second week of December.
Following the Kerala High Court’s refusal last week to consider its writ petition seeking postponement of the process, the Kerala government itself has approached the Supreme Court seeking postponement of the SIR exercise.
Citing severe manpower shortage, the state government has argued that holding the SIR along with the LSGI elections would lead to an “administrative impasse”.
In its petition under Article 32, Kerala has highlighted that more than 1,76,000 government and semi-government personnel and 68,000 security personnel are required for the local body elections. The petition says the SIR seeks an additional 25,668 officials, many of whom are drawn from the same limited pool of trained election staff.
Referring to the statutory deadlines under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 and the Kerala Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, the state government’s plea said, “It is a constitutional mandate to complete the LSGI elections before December 21, 2025. Further doing the SIR will put pressure on the administration and adversely affect the smooth conduct of the elections.”
It argued that the local body elections must mandatorily be completed by December 21, but there is no emergent need to complete the SIR at this stage, especially since the assembly elections are to be held only by May 2026.
“When constitutional elections are underway, unnecessarily rushing verification and reducing its quality is contrary to the democratic right to vote,” the petition said.
Before the Kerala High Court, the Election Commission of India had argued that the SIR is part of a nationwide exercise and more than half the process has already been completed, saying that stopping it midway would hamper preparations for the next election cycle.
A single-judge bench of Justice VG Arun had said that since similar petitions challenging the SIR of voter lists in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were already pending before the Supreme Court, for the sake of “judicial discipline and comity” the Kerala High Court would have to refrain from adjudicating the matter.
–IANS
PDS/DPB