Supreme Court Slams Surge of Petitions on Voter List Revision, Orders State-wise Segregation
The Supreme Court on Tuesday showed clear frustration over the rising number of petitions being filed from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala on issues linked to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A visibly irritated Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked that many politically connected individuals were approaching the court only to gain attention. He said the continuous filing of new petitions was unnecessarily complicating the matter and giving the entire issue a political colour.
To streamline the hearings, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed that all cases related to SIR be separated state-wise. This would allow the Supreme Court to hear and decide each state’s concerns independently.
The court issued notices in at least five new petitions raising different concerns from Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The bench also noted that with so many fresh filings, the main question — whether the SIR process is legally valid — was repeatedly getting pushed back.
The Chief Justice emphasised that the legality of the SIR in Bihar must be examined first, as the outcome of that case would directly influence the exercise underway in other states.
During the hearing, senior advocate Sidharth Dave, appearing for a petitioner from Uttar Pradesh, argued that the timeline set by the Election Commission was too short for a state as large as UP. Another lawyer appearing in the Tamil Nadu matter submitted that many migrant workers return only after the Pongal festival, and therefore more time should be given for the revision.
The bench also took note of a petition regarding West Bengal, which flagged past incidents of poll-related violence and sought deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to protect booth-level officers (BLOs).
The Supreme Court expressed concern over reports of electoral offices being “gheraoed” and stressed that such situations cannot be allowed. The Chief Justice said it was essential for the Election Commission to ensure the safety of BLOs and maintain order during the revision process.
In another case, the top court asked the Election Commission to explain why the state of Assam had been excluded from the SIR exercise.
