The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on November 11 the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)’s petition challenging the October 27 notification issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordering the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu.
Chief Justice B R Gavai, heading a bench, said the petition would be listed next Tuesday after an advocate appearing for the DMK mentioned the matter and sought its urgent hearing.
The petition, filed by R S Bharathi, the party’s Organising Secretary, challenges the constitutional validity of the SIR exercise and seeks to quash the ECI’s October 27 notification, which extended the revision process to Tamil Nadu based on its earlier June 24 guidelines. Both orders, the plea contends, violate constitutional provisions and electoral laws.
According to the DMK, the ECI’s decisions of June 24 and October 27, 2025, directing the conduct of the SIR, could potentially disenfranchise lakhs of genuine voters without due process, undermining free and fair elections—a core feature of India’s constitutional democracy.
The plea states that the ECI’s notification contravenes Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326 of the Constitution, as well as provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. It further claims that the documentation requirements, procedural lapses, and “unreasonably short timelines” would inevitably result in the wrongful deletion of voters’ names from electoral rolls.
The petition points out that Tamil Nadu had already undergone a Special Summary Revision (SSR) between October 2024 and January 6, 2025, during which the rolls were updated to account for migration, deaths, and ineligible voters. The final rolls were published on January 6, 2025, and have been regularly updated since then.
Calling the SIR exercise a case of “Constitutional overreach,” the DMK has contended that Article 324 empowers the Election Commission only in areas not covered by legislation. The current directive, it said, attempts to supplant the existing statutory framework governing electoral roll preparation and revision.
Last month, the ECI announced the second phase of SIR across 12 States and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal, with the final electoral rolls scheduled to be published on February 7, 2026.