The Supreme Court of India will hear on November 21 the Kerala government’s petition seeking to defer the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls. The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice B. R. Gavai, who agreed to list the case for hearing on Friday.
The SIR, announced by the Election Commission of India, began on November 4 and is scheduled to continue until December 4. It involves a comprehensive revision of the electoral rolls across Kerala. However, the state government argues that conducting the SIR at the same time as the upcoming local self-government (LSGI) elections—scheduled for December 9 and 11—would place an enormous strain on administrative resources.
According to the petition, the SIR requires the deployment of 1,76,000 government and quasi-government employees, 68,000 security personnel, and 25,668 additional officers—many of whom are also essential for conducting the local body elections. The state has termed this overlap an “administrative impasse”, making simultaneous execution impractical.
Importantly, the government clarified that it is not challenging the legality of the SIR itself but is only requesting that the exercise be postponed until the local body polls are completed.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to have a significant impact on how Kerala manages both the electoral roll revision and the LSGI elections in the coming weeks.
