Supreme Court Issues Notice To ECI On Pleas To Postpone SIR In Kerala; Hearing On Nov 26

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Election Commission of India on a petition filed by the Kerala Government seeking to defer the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Kerala till the completion of the local body elections.A bench of Justices Surya Kant, SVN Bhatti and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to post the matter on November 26. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for the State Government.Along with the State's petition, the bench also issued notice on the petitions filed by Indian Union Muslim League General Secretary PK Kunhalikutty, KPCC President Sunny Joseph and CPI(M) Secretary MV Govindan Master. Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar appeared for the CPI(M) Secretary and Advocate Haris Beeran for IUML.Kerala Government's petition has not challenged the SIR notification per se and only seeks postponement of the process. The State had initially 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.The General elections to the Local Self Government Institutions in the State are scheduled to be conducted on 9 and 11 December, 2025 in two phases, with counting scheduled to be held on 13 December. According to the schedule of SIR, the enumeration by BLOs must be complete by December 4, 2025, and the draft roll is scheduled to be published on December 9. The State argues that holding the SIR in parallel to the local body elections causes a lot of administrative difficulties.Notably, the Supreme Court is also seized of petitions seeking reliefs with respect to SIR in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. While the Bihar SIR matter has been heard on multiple occasions and elections in the state concluded recently, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are yet to undergo SIR and response of the ECI on pleas challenging the process in the states has been sought.Case Title:(1) STATE OF KERALA Versus THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 1136/2025 - Read Order Here(2) SUNNY JOSEPH Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR., W.P.(C) No. 1137/2025 - Read Order Here(3) P.K. KUNHALIKUTTY Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR., W.P.(C) No. 1133/2025 - Read Order Here(4) M.V GOVINDAN MASTER Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR., W.P.(C) No. 1135/2025 - Read Order Here

Supreme Court Issues Notice To ECI On Pleas To Postpone SIR In Kerala; Hearing On Nov 26

Debby Jain

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