The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce its judgment today in a batch of petitions challenging the legality of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, will deliver the ruling. The petitions question whether the ECI has the requisite authority under Article 326 of the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the relevant Rules to carry out the SIR in its present form.
The Supreme Court did not stay the SIR process while hearing the matter. The revision has been completed in Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and West Bengal, and is ongoing in other states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. The Court allowed the exercise to continue and reserved its judgment on January 29 this year.
The petitions were primarily filed in June last year following the ECI’s decision to launch the SIR in Bihar. Key petitioners include the Association for Democratic Reforms, political activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, Congress MP KC Venugopal, and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule.
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During the hearings, the Supreme Court directed the ECI to accept Aadhaar cards as one of the documents for identity verification in Bihar’s voter list revision. The Court clarified that Aadhaar would not constitute proof of citizenship and that election officials could still verify the authenticity of the documents submitted.
The lead case is titled Association for Democratic Reforms and Ors. Versus Election Commission of India, W.P.(C) No. 640/2025 (and connected cases).
The judgment is anticipated to address the scope of the Election Commission’s powers regarding intensive revisions of electoral rolls. The ruling is likely to be significant given the ongoing implementation of the SIR across multiple states.