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Kochi, Nov 13 (IANS) The Kerala High Court on Thursday suggested that the Vijayan government approach the Supreme Court to postpone the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the state.
Justice VG Arun, who heard the petition filed by the state government, said that since similar petitions challenging the SIR are already pending in the Supreme Court from Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, it would be appropriate for Kerala to also approach the top court.
Advocate General Gopalkrishna Kurup, appearing for the government, clarified that the petition has not questioned the validity of the SIR but has only sought its postponement.
“The writ petition is limited to seeking postponement of the SIR in Kerala,” he told the court.
After this the bench reserved its decision, which will be pronounced on Friday.
The state government’s plea has cited administrative and logistical hurdles arising from the upcoming two-phase local body elections on December 9 and 11.
It said the elections would require deployment of around 1.76 lakh government employees and 68,000 security personnel, while the SIR exercise would require an additional 25,668 personnel.
“This puts serious pressure on the state administration and regular functioning comes to a standstill,” the petition said.
The government also said that there is a constitutional mandate to complete local elections before December 21, but there is no such urgency for the SIR, as assembly elections in Kerala are scheduled only by May 2026.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, argued that the amendment was necessary ahead of the assembly elections next year.
He said both election commissions were closely coordinating and claims of administrative deadlock were “completely baseless”.
The legal move by the state government comes after weeks of political resistance against SIR across Kerala.
In September, the Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution opposing the amendment, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan warning that it could become a “backdoor attempt” to introduce an NRC-style exercise.
Opposition leader VD Satheesan also termed it a “hasty and ill-conceived” process that risks disenfranchising genuine voters.
Earlier this month, an all-party meeting, except the BJP, urged the government to seek judicial intervention – culminating in Thursday’s High Court hearing.
–IANS
SG/DPB