The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Kerala to continue its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list but issued a firm directive: no additional government employees should be pulled into SIR duties. The court also instructed that the state’s plea to postpone SIR—amid the ongoing local body election process—must be formally submitted to the Election Commission, which is obligated to consider it.
The court termed the government’s request for postponement “reasonable” and directed Kerala to inform the Election Commission within two days about the duration of the extension needed and detailed reasons for seeking it.
Meanwhile, both the Central and State Election Commissions told the bench that local body elections have not hindered SIR activities in Kerala. The Central Election Commission further clarified that there is no administrative crisis caused by the simultaneous conduct of elections and SIR—countering the state’s claim. It reminded the court that Kerala had previously managed both processes together during the 2020 elections.
The Commission also assured that the enumeration phase of SIR will conclude by December 11, posing no threat to the election timeline. After the local body polls wrap up on December 13, the 1.76 lakh employees deployed for election duties will return to their departments.
The state and several political parties had urged a postponement of SIR, citing excessive workload, and even pointed to the suicide of a Booth Level Officer reportedly due to job pressure. However, the Central Election Commission clarified that the incident was not linked to SIR responsibilities.
Earlier, the Kerala High Court had declined to interfere and asked the government to approach the Supreme Court. The deadline for returning voter information forms has been extended to December 11, and the draft electoral roll will be published on December 16.
