Kerala govt moves Supreme Court to defer SIR amid local body elections: All you need to know
The Kerala government has approached the Supreme Court seeking a postponement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise—at least until the local body elections are over.
The government had earlier decided to challenge the SIR itself, but the current plea seeks only a postponement, citing the ongoing local body elections.
Kerala’s petition argues that the SIR exercise is being carried out in a manner incompatible with the present election schedule. Elections to 1,199 of the state’s 1,200 local bodies will be held in two phases, and the Model Code of Conduct has been in force statewide since November 10.
The Election Commission had earlier announced that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) assigned SIR-related work would not be given any duties connected to the elections and that personnel engaged in election work would not be assigned BLO duties during the SIR.
December 9 is the date fixed for publication of the draft electoral rolls. BLOs must complete door-to-door visits, distribute and collect enumeration forms, and verify details within this period. Kerala’s first phase of local body polls is also scheduled for December 9.
Following the suicide of BLO Aneesh George, a school office attendant from Kannur who allegedly took his life due to work pressure, BLO protests broke out across the state against what many called an “unrealistic deadline” and excessive workload.
Even though half the timeline has passed, many BLOs have not yet completed distribution of the enumeration forms. The pace has been slowed by everything from residents needing help to fill the forms to tracing people who have moved away to interpersonal disputes within households that complicate verification.
In its petition, the Kerala government cites Articles 243E and 243U of the Constitution—along with provisions of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act and Kerala Municipality Act—to argue that the entire local body election process must be completed before December 21.
The plea also notes that the local body elections require 1.76 lakh personnel from the government and quasi-governmental services, apart from 68,000 police and other security personnel, and that the SIR would require additional personnel of about 25,668.
The state has submitted that this has already put a severe strain on the state administration and has brought routine administrative work to a standstill.
Alongside the argument that the current timelines directly clash with the local body election schedule, Kerala also cites that there is no urgency to complete the SIR now, and that the Election Commission had not shown any special reason for conducting a special revision in Kerala.
"Contrary to the constitutional and statutory mandate for completion of the 2025 elections to the LSGIs in the State before 21st of December, 2025, there is no constitutional or statutory mandate or any emergent necessity to complete the SIR simultaneously with the LSGI elections in the State," says the plea that has been filed through Advocate C.K. Sasi.
Kerala also argues that rushing the SIR now would weaken the quality of verification, especially when elections to local bodies are already underway. This, it says, harms voters’ basic democratic right to a fair and proper electoral process, which is central to democracy.
India