The Supreme Court today disposed of a batch of petitions challenging Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu.
A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana passed the order, in the backdrop of the judgment in Bihar SIR batch of cases, where the Election Commission's power to conduct SIR was upheld.
To recap, Tamil Nadu SIR was challenged by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), leaders of DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Lok Sabha MP Thol. Thirumavalavan, former State MLA K Selvaperunthagai and others.
According to DMK's petition, a Special Summary Revision (SSR) had already been conducted in Tamil Nadu between October 2024 and January 6, 2025, during which the electoral roll was updated to reflect changes such as migration, deaths and deletion of ineligible voters. The revised roll was published on January 6, 2025, and has been continuously updated since then.
Despite this, ECI notified a fresh SIR, introducing new guidelines that impose citizenship verification requirements, especially for those whose names were not on the 2003 electoral roll. The DMK warned that through the SIR, ECI had “claimed the power to assess the citizenship of individuals,” a power that rests solely with the Union Government under the Citizenship Act, 1955. By imposing documentation requirements akin to a citizenship test, the SIR allegedly transformed the ECI into a “de facto National Register of Citizens (NRC)", it said.
The petition argued that the SIR violated Articles 10, 14, 19, 21, and 326 of the Constitution by infringing the right to vote, equality, and dignity. It also violated the basic structure of the Constitution by undermining universal adult suffrage and the federal principle. In contrast, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) had filed an application supporting SIR in Tamil Nadu, calling it a legitimate and necessary exercise to uphold the sanctity of elections and prevent voter fraud.
As per TVK's petition, the SIR constituted a gross violation of constitutional protections under Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326, and was contrary to statutory provisions under Sections 21 and 23 of the Representation of People Act, 1950 (ROPA). It was stated that the SIR amounted to a "de novo" preparation of electoral rolls without any recorded reasons or justification, violating the statutory requirement under ROPA.
Notice was issued on the petitions challenging Tamil Nadu SIR in November last year.
Case Title: R. SIVA Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 1109/2025