SC agrees to hear on November 11 plea of DMK against SIR in Tamil Nadu

New Delhi [India], November 7 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on November 11 a plea of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Tamil Nadu.
The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai by the DMK's advocate.
The apex court said it will list the case for hearing on Tuesday.
RS Bharathi, Organising Secretary, has approached the apex court challenging the constitutional validity of the SIR of the electoral roll and seeking quashing of the October 27 notification of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which extended the SIR to Tamil Nadu based on earlier guidelines issued on June 24.
It challenged the ECI's orders dated June 24, 2025 and October 27, 2025, which directed the conduct of SIR.
The SIR and the ECI's orders, if not set aside, can arbitrarily and without due process disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, thereby disrupting free and fair elections and democracy in the country, which are part of the basic structure of the Constitution, said the petition.
The plea sought the quashing of the notification on grounds of being in violation of Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326 of the Constitution of India, as well as provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The documentation requirements of the directive, lack of due process, as well as the unreasonably short timeline for the said SIR of the Electoral Roll in the state of Tamil Nadu, make this exercise bound to result in the removal of names of lakhs of genuine voters from electoral rolls, leading to their disenfranchisement, it said.
"A Special Summary Revision (SSR) was conducted in the state of Tamil Nadu between October 2024 and January 6, 2025, which addressed issues such as migration, death and deletion of ineligible voters. The existing electoral roll in Tamil Nadu was updated and published on January 6, 2025, under Special Summary Revision and has been continuously updated since then," it added.
It further said that it is a clear case of constitutional overreach as Article 324 of the Constitution of India, while vesting ECI with superintendence and control over elections, operates only in fields unoccupied by legislation.
Vide orders dated October 27 and June 24, the ECI is seeking to supplant the existing statutory framework which already governs the preparation and revision of electoral rolls, said the poll panel.
ECI has last month announced that it will conduct the second phase of SIR of electoral rolls across 12 states and Union Territories, with the final voter list to be published on February 7, 2026.
The exercise will cover Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. (ANI)