Kerala SIR Ahead of Local Elections: Supreme Court Told 99% Voter Forms Distributed, ECI Opposes Deferment
Supreme Court heard petitions seeking deferment of Kerala’s voter roll revision ahead of local body elections and sought status reports from ECI and SEC
Kerala government has sought deferment of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls ahead of the 2025 local body elections.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala, with the Election Commission of India opposing any deferment despite the State’s local body elections scheduled for December 9 and 11.
Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, informed a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that 99% of enumeration forms had already been supplied to voters and 50% of them had been digitised.
Dwivedi emphasized that the SIR process was proceeding in coordination with the State Election Commission (SEC) and that administrative arrangements were in place to avoid conflicts with the local elections.
“The State Election Commission and the Election Commission of India are collaborating. Meetings with district officials have been conducted. There is no problem, we only need a small section of BLOs. The commissions are not facing any difficulty. The SEC has confirmed our work is not hampered,” Dwivedi submitted.
CJI Kant noted that the officers could manage the process administratively, with separate personnel allocated for the SIR and local elections. “It is a matter of a few days only,” the Chief Justice observed, with Dwivedi confirming that nearly all voters had received their forms.
The Bench directed the ECI to file a status report on the Kerala SIR process by Monday, December 1, with the matter to be taken up again on December 2. The court also sought an affidavit from the SEC regarding its coordination with the ECI.
Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Ranjit Kumar, representing political parties and the State, requested an earlier hearing than the initially proposed December 9 date, citing the imminent local elections. They clarified that they did not intend to file any rejoinder to the ECI’s counter-affidavit but sought urgent listing to ensure administrative preparedness.
The petitions were filed by the Kerala government and leaders of political parties including IUML General Secretary PK Kunhalikutty, KPCC President Sunny Joseph, and CPI(M) Secretary MV Govindan Master.
The State’s plea does not challenge the SIR notification itself but seeks a postponement of the process, arguing that running the SIR concurrently with local elections could create administrative difficulties.
Notably, on November 21, the Apex Court had issued notice on a plea filed by Kerala seeking a deferment of the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Kerala has argued that the exercise cannot be undertaken simultaneously with the upcoming elections to the State’s Local Self-Government Institutions. Kerala through AoR CK Sasi has submited that the overlap will disrupt the statutory and constitutional mandate to complete local body elections before December 21, 2025, and may push the administration into a near standstill.
In its petition, the State says it does not challenge the validity of the SIR at this stage but reserves the right to do so separately, if necessary. The immediate grievance is the timing. The Kerala State Election Commission has already scheduled local body polls for December 9 and 11, 2025, covering 1,200 LSGIs and 23,612 wards. The election notification is due on November 14, with nominations closing on November 21 and counting on December 13. Given this schedule, the State says all administrative machinery must be devoted exclusively to the elections.
Case Title: State of Kerala vs. The Election Commission of India & Ors.
Hearing Date: November 26, 2025
Bench: CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi