The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has approached the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Election Commission of India’s directive ordering a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, calling the exercise “arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional”.
The plea, filed by P. Shanmugam, secretary of the CPI(M) Tamil Nadu State Committee, seeks to quash the EC’s order dated October 27, 2025, which mandates completion of the SIR process within just one month. A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran took note of the plea on Monday after counsel for the party urged that it be heard along with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) petition challenging the same directive. “We will see,” the CJI said. The DMK’s plea is already listed for hearing on November 11.
The petition acknowledges the importance of maintaining pure and inclusive electoral rolls but asserts that the timeline and method prescribed by the EC are “manifestly impractical, humanly impossible, and contrary to law” under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
According to the plea, the SIR mandates enumeration between November 4 and December 4, 2025, covering over 6.18 crore voters in Tamil Nadu. It highlights that each Booth Level Officer (BLO) has been assigned to visit around 500 households daily, a task described as “humanly impossible,” since a BLO can meaningfully visit only 40–50 houses per day.
The party contends that the overall SIR schedule, spanning about 102 days, includes enumeration, rationalisation of polling stations, scrutiny, publication of draft rolls, claims and objections, and final publication. Such a compressed schedule, the plea says, leaves no time for training, verification, or meaningful participation by voters and political parties, particularly in large and rural constituencies.
The CPI(M) alleges that the EC’s decision amounts to a “colourable use of power”, arguing that no evidence of large-scale irregularities in the electoral rolls has been cited to justify such an exhaustive exercise. The party warns that the move could result in mass disenfranchisement, especially among marginalised and migrant communities, undermining the democratic process.
It further claims that by authorising officials to conduct citizenship verification and refer “suspected foreign nationals” under the Citizenship Act, 1955, the Election Commission has ventured beyond its constitutional mandate — effectively initiating a “de facto NRC exercise” in the state.
The CPI(M) also accuses the Election Commission of undermining cooperative federalism, asserting that the unilateral imposition of the SIR reduces Tamil Nadu to a mere “implementing agency of a centrally determined exercise.”
The petition prays for a declaration that the EC’s orders of June 24 and October 27, 2025, are ultra vires the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, and seeks their quashing by the apex court.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the matter on November 11, alongside the DMK’s challenge to the same SIR notification.
