What happened
The Supreme Court closed proceedings on 13 petitions filed by political parties and leaders challenging the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu. A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the case did not require further adjudication after the Court’s earlier judgment on the Bihar SIR process.
In the Bihar matter, decided on May 27, the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission of India’s power to conduct the intensive exercise and said the process strengthens the constitutional mandate for fair elections and supports free and fair elections.
Background and earlier position
Petitioners had challenged special intensive revision in Bihar and Tamil Nadu as a de novo citizenship verification exercise that could disenfranchise large numbers of voters. They also argued that the Election Commission of India had imposed the exercise unilaterally without consulting State governments, thereby undermining the federal structure.
One petition specifically argued that Tamil Nadu’s role would be reduced to that of a mere executing agency despite the exercise’s major implications for the electorate.