Election Commission of India To SC: SIR Of Electoral Rolls Order Legislative In Character

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that its order on special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, in various states, is legislative in character, and it lays down a complete set of principles and documents prescribed.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi represented the poll panel before the top court.

Dwivedi said, "Our SIR order is legislative in character. It lays down a complete set of principles and documents prescribed. It is a general order applicable to the whole country, except the Assam case". Dwivedi referred to legal schemes which govern the preparation and revision of electoral rolls and regulate the conduct of elections.

The senior advocate, referring to Section 62 of the Representation of Peoples Act, contended that voter registration is subject to specific statutory conditions, and Articles 324 to 326 of the Constitution, read with Section 19 of the Act, impose a constitutional obligation on the poll panel to ensure that only citizens are enrolled as voters.

Dwivedi made it clear that SIR does not proceed on the assumption that every elector must submit documentary proof. "It is not a case where no presumption has been attached at all," he said. He said that the nature of the SIR inquiry is fundamentally different from ordinary verification exercises.

It was submitted before the bench that if a voter could establish lineage to those earlier entries, no documents were required, and documents were sought only in cases where linkage could not be established.

"Only where such linkage is unavailable have this court's directions required the production of 11 specified documents, including Aadhaar," said Dwivedi.

The bench was informed that voters whose names appeared on earlier electoral rolls, those up to June 2025, were given presumptive validity if they could establish a linkage with their parents’ names in previous lists. The bench was informed that enumeration forms were issued to all voters up to June 2025, consequently conferring probative value even to the 2002 electoral rolls.

The bench was informed that booth-level officers (BLOs) were empowered to submit up to 50 forms per day. He said that the exercise involved a house-to-house survey with pre-filled forms, requiring only signatures from voters.

"It would be highly improper to lift facts from one case, such as in West Bengal, and apply them mechanically to a different scenario where the SIR has been conducted in an entirely distinct manner,” he said.

The apex court will continue to hear the matter on Wednesday. The bench was hearing pleas challenging the EC's SIR of electoral rolls undertaken in several states, including Bihar.

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