The Kerala High Court on Thursday reserved its order on the state government’s plea to defer the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, ahead of the upcoming elections to local self-government bodies.
During the hearing of the petition filed by the state government, which sought to postpone the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision, the High Court observed that it would be more appropriate for the state to approach the Supreme Court, where similar matters are already under consideration.
Justice VG Arun orally remarked that since the issue is pending before the Supreme Court, it would be inappropriate for the High Court to interfere at this stage.
“I still hold the view that it should be for the Supreme Court to decide because all other matters are being considered. I am not saying that there is no power of judicial review vested with this Court. I am only saying that as the matter is under consideration before the Supreme Court, it will be appropriate—or rather inappropriate—for this Court to go into the question as to whether the revision can go on or should be deferred,” Justice Arun observed.
“The other option is to abide by what the Supreme Court has said and defer the writ proceedings, which will also be of no benefit. Ultimately, if an order is passed, it may hamper the process. This is a time-bound exercise, and its validity is being examined,” the judge added.
Appearing for the Kerala government, Advocate General K. Gopalakrishna Kurup argued that the state had not challenged the validity of the Election Commission’s SIR, but was merely seeking to defer it until after the completion of the local body elections.
“The writ petition is strictly limited to seeking deferment of the SIR in Kerala,” the Advocate General told the court.
He further submitted that simultaneous conduct of the local body elections and the SIR would lead to an administrative impasse.
“The state will face an administrative deadlock due to simultaneous conduct of the LSGI elections and the SIR. Around 1,76,000 personnel are required for election purposes, apart from 68,000 security personnel. Additionally, the SIR requires 25,668 more staff. This places a severe strain on the administration, bringing routine work to a standstill,” Kurup said.
Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission of India, strongly opposed the plea, calling the state’s concerns “wholly unfounded.” He informed the court that the SIR is a nationwide process already underway in 12 states, and over half of the work in Kerala has been completed.
“The SIR exercise was announced on October 27. BLOs were appointed and trained, and the process began on November 4. By now, 55% of the enumeration work has been completed, and the entire process is scheduled to conclude by December 4,” Dwivedi said.
He explained that the exercise primarily involves collecting electors’ signatures on pre-filled forms containing EPIC numbers, addresses, and other details. BLOs and political party agents go door-to-door to obtain these signatures before uploading the data.
Dwivedi argued that any judicial intervention at this stage would interrupt a time-bound national process already mid-way and that the state should have approached the Supreme Court instead.
After hearing both sides, the High Court reserved its order in the matter. The verdict will be pronounced on Friday.