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Supreme Court to hear Kerala government’s plea to defer SIR next week
Kerala cited urgency, saying the local body elections will overlap with the SIR exercise, leading to an administrative impasse
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the Kerala government’s plea to defer the electoral roll Special Intensive Revision (SIR) next week. It issued notices to the Election Commission of India (ECI), among others, on fresh pleas challenging the process in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Puducherry. Kerala cited urgency, saying the local body elections will overlap with the SIR exercise, leading to an administrative impasse.
“The cause you have taken has not been taken by other states,” a bench of justices Surya Kant, SVN Bhatti, and Joymalya Bagchi told the Kerala government. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented Kerala, said some urgent orders were required as local body elections are scheduled on December 9 and 11.” Sibal informed the court that the pending SIR matters related to Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal were listed for hearing on November 26 and 27.
The bench said there was no urgency to list the other petitions challenging SIR in Uttar Pradesh and Puducherry and posted them for hearing in December.
Congress, Indian Union Muslim League, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders have also challenged the SIR in Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, and Kerala.
Issuing notices on all the petitions, the bench said, “Thank God, all political parties have started coming. We will issue notices. Only Kerala will be taken up on November 26. The other matters will be heard in the first or second week of December.”
The Kerala government cited practical difficulties in undertaking SIR with local body polls. It requested a deferment. “The State will be put to an administrative impasse, on account of simultaneous conduct of elections to the local self-government institutions (LSGIs) and the SIR. About 176,000 personnel are required for LSGI election purposes, apart from 68,000 security personnel,” said the Kerala government plea filed through advocate CK Sasi.
“...SIR requires the services of additional personnel numbering 25,668. This puts a severe strain on the state administration, bringing routine administrative work to a standstill.”
The petition said the pool of trained and election experienced staff is finite. It said parting with such a large number of officers for simultaneous SIR and local body elections is a near impossibility.
Kerala has 1,200 LSGIs, comprising 941 grama panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 87 municipalities, and six corporations, covering a total of 23,612 wards. The petition said the constitutional and statutory mandates require that elections to these bodies be completed before December 21.
The state told the court that Kerala’s chief electoral officer has said that staff deployed for the LSGI elections cannot be diverted for the SIR.
On November 11, the court sought ECI’s responses to pleas challenging the SIR in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
