SIR order was legislative, approach liberal, EC tells Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Electoral Commission on Tuesday (January 20, 2026) said that the order declaring Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was “legislative” in nature and the massive exercise that followed to “purify” the electoral rolls was marked by a “liberal approach”.

The poll body’s submission before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant came despite reports that 6.5 crore voter names were removed from draft voter rolls in nine States and three Union Territories during the second phase of SIR implementation.

However, the poll panel, represented by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, said the power to conduct and control elections was derived from the vast reserve of power available in Article 324 of the Constitution.

Mr. Dwivedi said the powers of the commission are not only administrative in nature but also have judicial and legislative powers. As an example of the judging function, he referred to powers under the Electoral Symbols Ordinance to decide which group is the real party when a political party splits.

“The SIR order was legislative in nature. It laid down all the necessary principles and documents and how to do them,” Mr. Dwivedi said.

Countering the petitioners’ attacks that the SIR does not have any legal backing and that the poll panel has invented the procedure “out of thin air”, Mr. Dwivedi said Article 324 provides the commission with freedom to “deviate”, a feature that makes it easier to prepare the electoral rolls keeping in mind the numerous situations that may arise over time. He also said Parliament and the poll panel have a symbiotic relationship. Both institutions existed to ensure the smooth functioning of democracy, the holding of elections and the participation of elected representatives in the Parliament.

People wait in a queue at a center during hearings under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Balurghat, Dakshin Dinajpur district, West Bengal, on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI

Mr Dwivedi said the poll panel’s powers had been maintained over the years and had not been “shut down”. Explaining the liberal approach adopted in SIR 2025, the senior lawyer said that the presumption has always been in favor of citizenship.

“It’s not that we didn’t add a presumption… If we didn’t add a presumption, we would have been asking everyone to bring evidence since 2003,” he said.

Mr. Dwivedi said that due to deaths, proliferation and migration, people from Bihar were excluded from the final list. He said that by June 2025, all people on the voter rolls have been given pre-filled census forms. Proof value was added to the names already included in the voter registers prepared after the 2002 SIR.

“These people who could be linked to the 2002 list were not required to submit any documents,” Mr. Dwivedi said.

Others who could not produce Nexus had to produce only any one of more than 11 (including Aadhaar) indicative documents.

“House to house survey was conducted with pre-filled form. They (voters) only had to sign the forms. BLOs were assigned the responsibility of uploading them. Booth Level Representatives of political parties were sending 50 forms per day,” Mr. Dwivedi said, detailing the liberal attitude adopted in the 2025 SIR.

The applications were filed a day after the Supreme Court urged the poll body not to create “stress and tension” to the people of West Bengal through the SIR process.