Kerala Moves Supreme Court Seeking Deferment Of Electoral Rolls' SIR Till Local Body Elections

The Kerala Government has approached the Supreme Court seeking the deferment of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission of India in the State, until the ongoing process for elections to the Local Self-government Institutions (LSGIs) is completed.

In its writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, Kerala argues that conducting the SIR simultaneously with local body elections will create significant administrative complications and potentially disrupt the smooth conduct of the polls. 

While reserving its right to challenge the SIR process itself at a later stage, the State has clarified that the present plea is limited to seeking postponement of the revision exercise in Kerala.

It is pointed out that Kerala has 1,200 LSGIs, comprising 941 Grama Panchayats, 152 Block Panchayats, 14 District Panchayats, 87 Municipalities and 6 Corporations, covering a total of 23,612 wards. The local body elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on December 9 and December 11. The SIR process commenced on November 4, and the draft rolls are to be published on December 9, giving a month's time to complete the exercise. 

The petition highlights the constitutional and statutory mandate under Articles 243-E and 243-U, Section 38 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, and Section 94 of the Kerala Municipality Act, requiring elections to be conducted within five years of the first meeting of the previous councils. Hence, the new members of the LSGIs have to be sworn in before December 21. The State argues that introducing the SIR process at this critical juncture may lead to an “administrative impasse” and jeopardize the timely conduct of elections.

The State says that 1,76,000 personnel are required for LSGI election purposes, apart from 68,000 security personnel. Besides, the conduct of SIR requires the services of additional personnel numbering 25,668. This, the State says, puts a severe strain on the State administration bringing routine administrative work to a standstill. Although the Chief Secretary of the State sent a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner on November 5 seeking the postponement of SIR, no response has ensued on it.

The State argues that unlike the Constitutional mandate to hold the LSGI elections within a strict time schedule, there is no such mandate for SIR, and hence the latter can be deferred "The ECI has also not made out any special reasons for conduct of a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in the State. Therefore, no prejudice will be caused to any sides if the SIR stands deferred in the State till the completion of LSGI elections in the State," the petition filed through Standing Counsel CK Sasi says.

It may be noted that the State of Kerala had last week approached the Kerala High Court seeking to defer the SIR process until the local body elections. However, the Kerala High Court declined interference, suggesting that the State approach the Supreme Court which is seized of the SIR-related matters.

Yesterday, the Indian Union Muslim League had filed a petition challenging the ECI's notification for conducting SIR in Kerala. 

A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi is considering the petitions related to SIR. Last week, the bench had posted those matters to November 26.

Case : State of Kerala v. Election Commission of India and others