The Kerala High Court on Friday refused to consider the plea filed by the State government that sought a postponement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The petition was filed in the matter titled State of Kerala, Represented by the Chief Secretary to the Government v. The Election Commission of India.

Justice VG Arun made it clear in court that the High Court should not intervene at this stage because similar petitions challenging the SIR process in other States are already being heard by the Supreme Court. According to him, judicial discipline required the High Court to step back and avoid issuing any conflicting orders.

As a result, the single-judge bench allowed the Kerala government to approach the Supreme Court if it wished to pursue the matter further. The Court stated, “Judicial discipline and comity requires this court to not entertain this petition. Therefore this writ petition is closed leaving it open for the petitioner to move the Supreme Court or approach this court depending on the outcome of the petitions pending before the Supreme Court.”

The Kerala government brought the plea at a time when the State is preparing for the upcoming panchayat elections. The government explained that these elections would require the deployment of nearly 1,76,000 government staff along with 68,000 security personnel. Alongside this, the SIR process would require an additional 25,668 officials, creating a heavy strain on the limited workforce available in the State.

The State argued that both exercises rely on the same trained and experienced staff, making it extremely difficult to carry out SIR and panchayat elections together. It stressed this concern through the statement, “The pool of trained and election-experienced staff is finite, which constrains real-world deployment. Parting with such number of officers for simultaneous SIR and LSGI elections is a near impossibility, apart from possibly putting the State to an administrative impasse.”

Kerala also highlighted that the panchayat elections have a Constitutional deadline of December 21 this year, whereas no such urgency exists for SIR. Under Section 21(2) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, electoral rolls must be revised before each general election unless directed otherwise by the ECI. Since the general election to the Kerala Legislative Assembly is required to be completed only before May 24, 2026, the State argued that SIR need not be rushed at this moment.

Representing the Kerala government, Advocate General Gopalakrishna Kurup assured the Court that the State is not opposing the SIR itself but only seeking a reasonable postponement.

On the other hand, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, maintained that the SIR had been scheduled because Kerala is expected to undergo Assembly elections next year. He insisted that the Kerala government’s fears of administrative pressure were exaggerated and added that the State Election Commission did not express any such concerns.

A day earlier, while reserving judgment, Justice VG Arun pointed out that the matter should ideally be determined by the Supreme Court, which is already considering similar challenges from other States. The apex court is presently examining SIR-related petitions filed from Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

The background shows that the ECI first initiated a Special Intensive Revision in June 2025 in Bihar. That move was challenged through multiple petitions, including those filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Federation for Indian Women (NFIW).
Sources:

• ADR petition details: https://adrindia.org/

• NFIW organisational updates: https://www.nfiw.org/about/

Even while the Bihar petitions remained pending before the Supreme Court, the ECI on October 27, 2025, extended the SIR to additional States and Union Territories such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Kerala. The SIR notifications in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were also challenged in the Supreme Court, which issued notices on November 11.

Meanwhile, the SIR process in Bihar was completed since the Supreme Court did not stay the exercise. The ECI has clarified that the SIR outcomes in every State will eventually depend on the final verdict delivered by the Supreme Court.

Kerala reiterates staff shortage as the reason for seeking delay

In its detailed petition, the Kerala government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan explained that the State’s administrative manpower would be severely stretched if both the Panchayat elections and the SIR process were carried out at the same time. The petition noted that the Panchayat elections alone need nearly 1,76,000 government personnel and 68,000 security staff, while the SIR requires 25,668 more officials, a number that the State said was not feasible to provide without affecting governance.

The government repeated its concern through the statement, “The pool of trained and election-experienced staff is finite, which constrains real-world deployment. Parting with such a number of officers for simultaneous SIR and LSGI elections is a near impossibility, apart from possibly putting the State to an administrative impasse.”

It stressed that while the Constitution mandates Panchayat elections before 21st December, there is no similar Constitutional urgency for conducting the SIR. Furthermore, the State highlighted that the general elections to the Legislative Assembly are scheduled only before May 24, 2026, giving more time to carry out revision of voter rolls without administrative overlap.

ECI counters State’s claims; says no objections from State Election Commission

Appearing on behalf of the Election Commission of India, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi dismissed the concerns raised by the Kerala government. He argued that the State Election Commission itself did not report any difficulties or raise objections regarding the SIR process. Dwivedi pointed out that the SIR schedule aligns with the Assembly elections expected in Kerala next year.

He reminded the court that Section 21(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, makes it mandatory to revise the electoral roll before every general election unless the ECI decides otherwise.

Earlier in June, the SIR conducted in Bihar led to several legal challenges. Petitions filed by groups such as the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Federation for Indian Women (NFIW) questioned the fairness of the process. Following the completion of the Bihar SIR, the ECI extended the exercise to multiple States and Union Territories, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have already approached the Supreme Court against the SIR announcement.