New Delhi, Nov 17 (UNI) The Indian union Muslim League (IUML) has filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay on the Special Interim Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently being conducted in Kerala, contending that the exercise cannot run parallel to the ongoing ‘Local Body’ election process in the State.
The petition challenges the October 27 notification issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), which initiated the SIR process, arguing that it is arbitrary, legally unwarranted, and based on unrealistic timelines.
The plea has been filed through IUML General Secretary P K Kunhalikutty. The petition has been settled by Senior Advocate Haris Beeran and filed through Advocate R S Jena.
The petitioner argued that the State Election Commission had already announced the Local Body polls in two phases, on December 9 and 11, while the draft roll under SIR was scheduled for publication on December 4.
Conducting SIR during an active election cycle allegedly violates established electoral practice and undermines the stability and integrity of elections.
No finding of fraud, duplication, or systemic irregularities has been recorded to justify invoking Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, for a special revision.
The plea states that the Act does not authorise the mass deletion or neutralisation of entries in a valid electoral roll without individualised determination.
The SIR process, according to the IUML, may result in large-scale deletion of voters, disproportionately impacting NRI electors.
In an accompanying stay application, the petitioner cited the recent death of Booth Level Officer Aneesh George, which is alleged to be a suicide induced by extreme work pressure during the SIR verification exercise.
The application notes that many BLOs work from 7 am to 8 pm, including weekends, and have complained that it is humanly impossible to complete the verification task within a 30-day timeline.
The petition asserts, “The only intention behind this SIR, when the State is going for local body elections and NRI voters are at peril, is to exclude as many voters from the draft voters list as possible.”
It further argues that such exclusion would violate the right to vote and provisions of the Constitution of India as well as the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
The Kerala Government had earlier approached the Kerala High Court seeking a deferral of the SIR process. The High Court, however, refused to interfere, observing that the State may place its grievances before the Supreme Court, which is already hearing related matters.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the matter shortly.
