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New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a petition filed by the Kerala government seeking postponement of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state in view of the upcoming elections to Local Self-Government Institutions (LSGIs).
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, SVN Bhatti and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to hear the case on November 26 after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, said the SIR process was continuing even as Kerala is set to hold local body elections in the second week of December.
“Issue notice. All these petitions will be heard on November 26,” the Justice Kant-led bench ordered, tagging similar petitions filed by CPI(M), CPI and Indian Union Muslim League.
While the Kerala government has only sought to postpone the SIR, political parties have challenged the validity of the SIR process in the state.
The Kerala government has argued that holding SIR simultaneously with the LSGI elections would lead to a severe manpower crisis.
In its petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the state government 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 ECI 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
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