Supreme Court Defers Plea To Extend Kerala SIR Deadline; Posts On December 18

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to pass orders to extend the deadline for the submission of enumeration forms in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala. The Court deferred the matter till December 18, the present deadline, and will take a call then on whether to pass further extension.A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing the petitions filed by the State of Kerala and some political parties seeking extension of the deadline in view of the ongoing local body elections Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the Election Commission of India, submitted that the deadline was first extended from December 4 to December 11 . Further, following the Court's last order, the deadline was again extended till December 18.Senior Advocate PV Surendranath, for CPI(M) Secretary MV Govindan, requested a further extension of at least two weeks, saying that over 20 lakh persons are yet to be traced. He said that this will enable students and employees outside the State to complete the formalities during the vacation time. Advocate CK Sasi, for the State of Kerala, also supported the plea for extension.Dwivedi, for the ECI, replied that 97.42% enumeration forms have been digitised after submission by the voters till yesterday. Dwivedi added that if there is a need felt, the ECI will extend the date further, and urged that there was no requirement of pass orders based on speculation.On the last hearing, the Court recommended to the Election Commission of India to further extend the deadline for the submission of enumeration forms in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of the electoral rolls in Kerala, in view of the ongoing process for local body elections.The local body elections in the State are happening on December 9 and 11, and the counting is happening on December 13.The Government of Kerala, along with 3 other,s have filed their petitions. 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 (2) SUNNY JOSEPH Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR., W.P.(C) No. 1137/2025 (3) P.K. KUNHALIKUTTY Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR., W.P.(C) No. 1133/2025 (4) M.V GOVINDAN MASTER Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR., W.P.(C) No. 1135/2025 (5) COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (CPI) STATE COUNCIL Versus THE ELECTION COMISSION OF INDIA AND ANR. W.P.(C) No. 1160/2025 Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Defers Plea To Extend Kerala SIR Deadline; Posts On December 18

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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