Supreme Court Agrees to Hear DMK Plea Challenging ECI’s Revision of Voter Rolls in Tamil Nadu

The matter is slated for hearing on Tuesday, i.e. November 11. It was mentioned before a bench led by CJI BR Gavai. 

The order of ECI dated October 27, 2025 has directed for an SIR to be conducted in various States and Union Territories such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the State of Tamil Nadu.

Notably, the Court is also seized of a batch of petitions challenging the SIR is Bihar.

The SIR orders based the order and guidelines issued on 24.06.2025 of the Election Commission of India if not set aside, can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution, Supreme Court has been told.

"The documentation requirements of the directive, lack of due process as well as the unreasonably short timeline for the said Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Roll in the State of Tamil Nadu further make this exercise bound to result in removal of names of lakhs of genuine voters from electoral rolls leading to their disenfranchisement", the petition adds.

Filed by RS Bharathi, Organizing Secretary, Dravida Munnetra Kazgham (DMK), the petition argued that the timeline for the SIR is also unrealistic and arbitrary with Booth Level Officers having to conduct house to house enumeration, being required to repeatedly follow up with persons not available, help people fill up their forms, and make recommendations over a span of two months.

Court has also been informed that a Special Summary Revision (SSR) was conducted in the State of Tamil Nadu between October 2024 to January 6, 2025 which addressed issues such as migration, death and deletion of ineligible voters and the existing electoral roll in Tamil Nadu was updated and published on January 6, 2025 under Special Summary Revision and has been continuously updated since then.

The plea further states that the entire process this is being done without any guidelines which renders the entire exercise arbitrary and that the timeline prescribed for Tamil Nadu coincides with a major monsoon season, followed by Christmas holidays and then Pongal.

Relying on Article 326 of the Constitution which stipulates that that every person who is a citizen, above the age of eighteen on such date as may be legislatively prescribed and is not otherwise disqualified under the Constitution or a law on the grounds of “non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice”, shall be entitled for registration as a voter, the petition argues, "The use of “shall” makes it evident that the Constitution mandates inclusion, unless disqualification has been incurred on the above specified grounds, in terms of a law".

Relying on the recent SIR in Bihar, the petition states: "In the State of Bihar, 65.2 lakh existing electors who were on the Electoral Rolls as on 24.06.2025, on the ground that their filled enumeration forms were not received by 25.07.2025. The wrongfully excluded among these 65.2 lakh voters will now be compelled to reapply as fresh electors under Form 6 of the Registration of Electors Rules, which is to be submitted along with certain documentary proof. This is a denial of their statutory right to vote."

Case Title: RS Bharathi vs. Election Commission of India

Mentioning Date: November 7, 2025

Bench: CJI BR Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran