The Supreme Court on Friday refused to extend the deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala but allowed petitioners to identify individuals who had missed the enumeration deadline and submit their details to the Election Commission for consideration.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed the Election Commission to examine the representations and submit a report to the court. The poll panel was also granted four weeks to respond to allegations concerning large-scale deletions from the electoral rolls.
The court declined the request for additional time after noting that procedures for correcting electoral records and seeking voter inclusion remained available even after the enumeration exercise.
Petitioners Raise Concerns Over Missed Enumeration Deadline
During the proceedings, counsel representing the petitioners argued that several individuals had been unable to complete their enumeration forms within the prescribed period because of insufficient time.
The petitioners sought an extension, pointing out that the verification exercise was due to conclude on Friday.
Chief Justice Surya Kant, however, indicated that the appropriate course would be to identify affected individuals and submit their cases directly to the Election Commission.
The CJI said the petitioners could bring such cases to the poll panel’s attention through representations, which the Commission would be asked to examine while the matter remained pending before the court.
Rejecting the request to extend the deadline, the Chief Justice observed that the process was continuous and that additional time was therefore unnecessary.
Election Commission Agrees to Examine Representations
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the Election Commission, informed the bench that the revision exercise had been completed. He submitted that individuals requiring corrections could still approach the authorities through the prescribed procedure.
Taking note of the submissions, the Supreme Court permitted the petitioners to provide details of people who had failed to submit their enumeration forms before the deadline.
The Election Commission agreed to consider these representations, and the bench directed it to place a report before the court.
The proceedings form part of a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls across several states.
