New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear petitions challenging the Election Commission’s decision to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and other states.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, SVN Bhatti, and Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Election Commission on all the new petitions filed by various political leaders challenging the SIR exercise in different states on various grounds.
Kapil Sibal argued:
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for a petitioner challenging the SIR exercise in Kerala, said that local body elections are also scheduled to be held in the state, and therefore, there is some urgency in the matter.
Petitions other than Kerala to be heard in December
The bench directed that petitions challenging the SIR exercise in Kerala be listed on November 26, and the remaining petitions challenging the electoral roll revision exercise in other states will be heard in the first or second week of December.
The Supreme Court is already hearing several petitions challenging the legality of the Election Commission’s decision to conduct the SIR exercise across India.
On November 11, the Supreme Court sought separate responses from the poll panel on petitions filed by leaders of the DMK, CPI(M), West Bengal Congress, and Trinamool Congress challenging the SIR of voter lists in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
