Govt Staff Deputed To ECI Must Perform SIR Duties; Additional Staff Can Be Deployed If BLOs Face Hardships : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued certain directions which the State Governments can follow if the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duty for the Election Commission of India are facing hardships.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that "the employees who have been deputed by the State Governments/State Election Commissions at the disposal of the Election Commission of India for the purpose of performing statutory duties, including SIR, are obligated to perform such duties."

The bench further observed :

"In case they are facing hardships, including they being overburdened with their routine duties as well as the additional duties assigned by the Election Commission of India, the State Government can obviate such hardships, for which we deem it appropriate to issue the following directions :  

(i) The State Governments may consider the desirability of deputing additional staff at the disposal of the Election Commission of India so that the working hours can be proportionately reduced.

(ii) Wherever any employee has any specific reason for seeking exemption from the duty assigned by the ECI, the competent authority of the state government shall consider such requests on case-to-case basis and replace such person with another employee. However, it shall not be construed or understood as if they can withdraw the employees who have been assigned the duty if their substitutes are not provided. In other words, the State shall be obligated to deploy the requisite work force at the disposal of the ECI, though the strength of such employees can be increased as explained above."

Regarding the other prayers in the application seeking ex-gratia compensation for the BLOs who died during SIR duties, the bench said that the aggrieved persons or petitioner can file applications at a later stage.

The Court was hearing an application by actor Vijay's party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) seeking to stop the coercive actions being taken by the Election Commission of India under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act against the Booth Level Officers over lapses in the SIR duties.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the TVK, submitted that FIRs under Section 32 RP Act have been filed by the ECI in Uttar Pradesh against BLOs. He contended that the BLOs, who are mostly anganwadi workers and teachers, are not equipped to perform the SIR duties in such a short span. He said that many of them have to go for SIR duties early morning or late at night, before or after their regular duties. "They work in the morning, teaching jobs then go to this job, work till 3 AM...a boy who had to go on his wedding, he said please give me leave, they suspended him, he commited suicide ....when you are doing this, atleast show the human side...criminal action is harsh, it should not be initiated," he submitted.

CJI Surya Kant said that the ECI by itself cannot execute the functions and need to take the State's officers.

"The state govt cannot run away from this obligation, obviously, they are under a duty....if there is a difficulty being experienced on case to case basis, the state government shall exempt them and provide an alternative," CJI said.

"Why should the ECI register FIRs?" Sankaranarayanan asked.

"It is not for the first time, earlier also they have been registering it," CJI replied. "Let the process go on for 6-7 months, what is the rush?" Sankaranarayanan asked.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal submitted that the pressure on the BLOs is a harsh reality. He asked why only one month is given for the SIR in UP when the elections are due only in 2027.

The bench however pointed out that no State has approached the Court citing difficulties.

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh for the ECI submitted that in Tamil Nadu, over 90% of the forms have been supplied. He submitted that the ECI resorted to criminal proceedings only when the BLOs showed reluctance to perform their duties. Sibal said that the BLOs are merely uploading forms without any verification and the ECI was claiming over 90% of the work was over.

Case : TAMILAGA VETTRI KAZHAGAM v. ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ORS. W.P.(C) No. 1157/2025