Kerala SIR not a problem, already distributed 90% enumeration forms: EC in Supreme Court

The Election Commission of India (EC) in the Supreme Court expressed confidence in the conduct of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise amid local body elections in the state and said there were no “problems” and more than 90% of the counting forms have been distributed.

Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, the EC, represented by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, said, “The Election Commission and the Kerala State Election Commission are cooperating with the authorities on the ground and the District Collectors in Kerala. They are confident. Ninety per cent of the numbers have been distributed and the 70% that have been returned have been delivered.” digitized”.

Supreme Court hearing on SIR LIVE – 26 November 2025

The SIR process is scheduled from November 4 to December 4. The Kerala State Election Commission had decided to hold local body elections in the state on December 9 and December 11.

The state government, in its petition submitted through lawyer CK Sasi, had pointed out that conducting SIR and elections simultaneously would be “almost impossible”.

“SIR is a massive exercise that requires deployment of 1,76,000 personnel from the government and semi-governmental services and also 68,000 police and other security personnel for election-related duties. SIR is also an extensive process with cumbersome procedures.”

The Communist Party of India (CPI), a partner of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, had separately approached the top court seeking judicial directions not only to postpone the SIR but also to cancel the revision process, which spread to 12 States and Union Territories after Bihar.

The EC on Wednesday denied the Kerala government’s version of a human resource crisis and said “persons different from those appointed in local self-government institutions (LSGI) elections have been given the posts of Cabinet Level Officers”.

The EC said that if necessary, the State Election Commission will allocate more people as BLOs in Kerala.

Tamil Nadu argued that the EC had given “unrealistic timelines” to complete the SIR process in the state. There was also a hurricane forecast.

One of the petitioners stated that the EC has digitized only 50% census forms in Tamil Nadu in the last 22 days and there are only eight days left for the end of the counting phase on December 4.

Mr. Dwivedi allayed fears by stating that once the census is signed and submitted by citizens, it will be processed by the EC machinery in a timely manner.

However, Kapil Sibal, senior lawyer for West Bengal and Kerala, said what happened on the ground was very different from what was presented in court.

Mr. Dwivedi said political parties opposing the SIR in states like West Bengal were deliberately obstructing the distribution of census forms.

Lawyers Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi alleged that the BLOs took their own lives as they could not cope with the workload.

Mr. Dwivedi countered that such an allegation was not part of any record filed in the top court by Mr. Bhushan’s client, the Association for Democratic Reforms.