5 months ago
1
The Supreme Court connected Tuesday (December 9, 2025) remonstrated with the Election Commission of India for giving “mechanical and cyclostyled” answers each clip a quality occupation is presented successful tribunal by anxious voters astir the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant voiced the apical court’s exasperation astatine repeatedly being witnesser to Election Commission (EC) trying to parry the applicable difficulties raised successful tribunal with figures and statistic connected the fig of enumeration forms that person been submitted and digitised.
T.N. migrant workers’ woes
The latest lawsuit came portion the tribunal was proceeding applications seeking an hold of clip to taxable enumeration forms successful Tamil Nadu. The applicants said that radical surviving successful the hilly regions of the States were migrant workers, and galore permission for their yearly pilgrimage to Sabarimala and volition lone instrumentality by Pongal successful mid-January. The enumeration phase, however, is acceptable to extremity connected December 11 successful Tamil Nadu.
The EC effect was a blank statement: “99.27% enumeration forms were received and digitised successful Tamil Nadu.”
“For you, it is 90% and 97% each clip a applicable trouble is raised successful this court. Your answers are ever mechanical and cyclostyled,” the Chief Justice berated the EC.
Another applicant submitted that 56 lakh radical were yet to taxable their enumeration forms successful the State.
‘Extension needed’
The proceeding besides saw the Kerala government, represented by advocator C.K. Sasi, question a further hold of 2 weeks for electors successful the State to taxable their enumeration forms. He said that implicit 20 lakh voters were yet to taxable their forms. The EC had earlier extended the deadline successful Kerala from December 11 to December 18.
“There are students who are studying extracurricular the State. On a idiosyncratic front, determination are besides lawyers similar me. We are waiting for the Christmas vacations to spell backmost and taxable our forms,” elder advocator P.V. Surendranath said, explained the applicable difficulties.
Here too, the EC responded by stating that 97.42% enumeration forms person been digitised successful Kerala.
Senior advocator Rakesh Dwivedi, for the EC, said the State’s submission was “speculative”, claiming that the canvass assemblage had its “fingers connected the pulse” successful Kerala. “We are monitoring,” Mr. Dwivedi submitted. The tribunal posted the lawsuit connected December 18 to measure the concern to walk due orders, if necessary.
Driving BLOs to exhaustion
Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned whether the EC was “too overmuch of a driving force”, leaving booth-level officers (BLOs) exhausted.
The EC dismissed the conception arsenic a “political communicative floating around”. It said determination were lone 1,200 voters successful each polling booth, and the BLO for the booth had 37 days to taxable and cod enumeration forms from them. “A BLO tin screen them each successful 37 days astatine the gait of 35 voters a day… There are tiny hamlets successful immoderate places. A BLO could easy sojourn six oregon 7 houses and implicit the regular quota,” Mr. Dwivedi rationalised.
But Justice Bagchi said the mentation made it look arsenic though a BLO’s occupation was simply “desk work”.
“It is sheer limb work. They person to limb it location aft house, verify the details, question backmost and upload the enumeration forms. There is unit connected the BLOs… We are not connected ‘narratives’, arsenic you enactment it… We had taken enactment of strain connected BLOs successful our bid connected December 4,” Justice Bagchi addressed the EC counsel.
‘Hostile parties causing stress’
On December 4, the apical tribunal had enactment the onus connected the States to substitute BLOs who autumn sick connected the occupation oregon depute further unit for SIR enumeration enactment to trim stress. Tuesday’s proceeding saw the tribunal clarify that the December 4 bid would beryllium applicable connected a pan-India basis.
On Tuesday, Mr. Dwivedi contended that it was not the EC, but ruling governmental parties hostile to the SIR successful States similar West Bengal and Kerala, who are interfering with the BLOs’ work, “bossing them around”.
“In Kerala, the Congress enactment has said the CPI(M) is putting unit connected the BLOs… Stress is coming much from the governmental parties,” Mr. Dwivedi submitted for the EC.
‘EC indispensable support BLOs’
The tribunal was proceeding an exertion that BLOs successful West Bengal were subjected to unit successful a deliberate bid by governmental parties to dilatory the SIR process.
“BLOs are present performing your statutory duties. For the clip being, they are your employees. BLOs person to beryllium protected by you and the State concerned,” Chief Justice Kant addressed the EC.
Mr. Dwivedi said States person to cooperate with the EC to guarantee determination was nary violence. “If the State fails, the EC could instrumentality the section constabulary nether deputation. If the section constabulary enactment foul, the canvass assemblage is empowered to enactment successful Central forces,” helium submitted.
The tribunal said it was not capable for the EC to accidental it had powers to support the BLOs. “Why person you not exercised this power? This [violence perpetrated against BLOs] is simply a precise superior issue. The BLOs are moving for you,” the Chief Justice Kant admonished.
Mr. Dwivedi told the tribunal that the EC cannot “jump to” immoderate conclusion. “We volition bash the necessary. We volition instrumentality beardown enactment to support the BLOs,” helium promised.
