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The Supreme Court connected Tuesday (November 11, 2025) interrogated Opposition parties, leaders, and NGOs for their antagonistic portrayal of the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including their claims that the workout amounts to “citizenship screening” successful disguise and threatens to disenfranchise lakhs of voters.
“You radical privation to task arsenic if revision of electoral rolls is happening for the archetypal clip successful this country! We besides cognize the crushed reality. A law functionary is undertaking an exercise… There tin beryllium immoderate procedural deficiency. Those tin beryllium pointed retired and rectified. You are saying arsenic if the antiauthoritarian process is being threatened… There is already an electoral roll, this is conscionable a process to revise it,” Chief Justice of India-designate Justice Surya Kant said, addressing Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and leaders from West Bengal.
Also work | SC proceeding connected SIR updates
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are among the 12 States and Union Territories included successful the 2nd signifier of the SIR exercise, announced connected October 28. The destiny of 51 crore voters is astatine stake.
Hasty process
Senior advocator Kapil Sibal, representing the DMK and immoderate West Bengal MPs, took connected the situation from the Bench, responding that electoral rotation revisions person so happened successful the past, but pointing retired that the process successful those instances was cautious and long, taking astir 3 years.
“Now, the Election Commission (EC) wants it done successful a month. It has already started connected November 4… Ultimately, lakhs of radical are going to beryllium excluded from the elector list,” helium replied.
The enumeration signifier for SIR 2.0 volition proceed till December 4 and the EC volition merchandise the draught electoral rolls connected December 9. The last electoral rolls volition beryllium published connected February 7, 2026.
Inexplicable papers list
Mr. Sibal termed the existent SIR a “farcical exercise”, referring to the EC’s inexplicable inclusion of an “extract of the electoral rotation of Bihar SIR with notation to July 1, 2025” successful its list of 13 types of documents that could beryllium submitted arsenic impervious of identity during scrutiny successful the SIR successful Tamil Nadu and 8 different States and 3 Union Territories.
“An extract of the electoral rotation of the Bihar SIR has been added arsenic the 13th document. What has the Bihar SIR got to bash with elections successful Tamil Nadu was not made clear. This has go a origin of disorder successful the minds of the electors arsenic good arsenic parties successful Tamil Nadu and different States. Will the Bihar SIR beryllium taken arsenic a basal papers to see voters of Bihar arsenic voters of Tamil Nadu without the criterion of ‘ordinarily resident’ successful the second State?” Mr. Sibal queried successful court. Senior advocator Amit Anand Tiwari and advocator Vivek Singh besides represented the DMK, on with Mr. Sibal.
The Bench issued announcement to the EC connected the petitions filed by the DMK and different pleas challenging the constitutionality of the SIR exercise.
Competing for backwardness
Mr. Sibal noted that States disagree culturally and geographically from each other. The elder counsel pointed retired that determination were ample swathes of agrarian areas successful Tamil Nadu with astir zero Internet connectivity. “How would radical upload documents and details if their names bash not look successful the draught rotation oregon if their erstwhile information does not lucifer with the enumeration forms oregon if their details are not available? They volition person to capable up everything. But from where?” Mr. Sibal asked.
The Election Commission, represented by elder advocator Rakesh Dwivedi, said that States opposing the SIR were “competing with each different to beryllium who was much backward”.
Need for transparency
Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, appearing for the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), suggested alternate measures to weed retired dormant and duplicate voters from the electoral rolls.
Mr. Bhushan said the EC had a de-duplication bundle which could beryllium tally to place duplicate names successful the electoral roll. Likewise, gram sabhas oregon panchayat sabhas could beryllium organised astatine the crushed level to place voters who had migrated oregon were dead. The counsel urged the tribunal not to fto the EC usage the SIR arsenic a mechanics to find citizenship.
In an application, Mr. Bhushan insisted that electoral officials indispensable supply voters with acknowledgement slips during the submission of enumeration forms. He said the 2003 electoral rotation should beryllium made disposable successful a machine-readable form. “This is to assistance voters verify the beingness of their parents’, relatives’ oregon their ain names successful the 2003 rolls. It would guarantee transparency,” Mr. Bhushan submitted.
Voter privateness concerns
Though agreeing with Mr. Bhushan connected the constituent of the acknowledgement slips, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, connected the Bench, referred to a Supreme Court judgement which had objected to the merchandise of machine-readable elector lists arsenic it whitethorn pb to usurpation of elector privacy.
“Data could beryllium mined. EC holds the information successful trust,” Justice Bagchi observed.
The proceeding besides saw Justice Bagchi, astatine 1 point, reiterate that the tribunal had lone included Aadhaar arsenic a impervious of individuality successful the SIR process. “We had lone said that if EC could usage caste oregon commencement certificates arsenic impervious of individuality successful SIR, Aadhaar could beryllium utilized too,” Justice Bagchi clarified.
The tribunal listed the lawsuit for proceeding connected November 26.
