DMK moves SC against EC’s decision to conduct SIR in Tamil Nadu

New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging the decision of Election Commission to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, calling the exercise "unconstitutional, arbitrary, and a threat to democratic rights".

The petition, filed by R S Bharathi, organizing secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has sought quashing of the EC’s notification of October 27 for undertaking the exercise of SIR in the state, terming it violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 (right to equality, freedom of speech and right to life) and other provisions of the Constitution and the Representation of People Act and the Registration of Electors Rules of 1960.

The plea, which has been settled by senior advocate and MP N R Elango, has been filed by lawyer Vivek Singh on Monday with the apex court registry and is likely to come up for hearing this week.

“Issue a writ of certiorari calling for records pertaining to order dated October 27, 2025 of the Respondent directing that a Special Intensive Revision be conducted in the State of Tamil Nadu,” the plea said.

The plea said that the SIR could result in the "arbitrary removal" of lakhs of genuine voters, claiming that the procedure imposes unreasonable documentation requirements and lacks procedural safeguards.

“The SIR and the 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,” it said.

“The documentation requirements of the directive, lack of due process as well as the unreasonably short timeline for the said Special Intensive Revision of the Electoral Roll in the State of Tamil Nadu make this exercise bound to result in removal of names of lakhs of genuine voters from electoral rolls leading to their disenfranchisement,” it said.

The plea said that wrongful deletions due to rushed timelines and unclear processes could “disrupt free and fair elections, a core element of India’s constitutional basic structure”.

“There is neither a necessity for directing a de novo verification of such an extensive nature nor do the orders of the Respondent (EC) dated 24.06.2025 and 27.10.2025 disclose any exceptional or compelling reason that could constitute adequate justification for the SIR. The orders thus amount to a colourable exercise of power and are patently arbitrary, unreasonable and illegal,” it said.

The state’s electoral rolls were already updated through a Special Summary Revision (SSR) completed in January 2025, the petition said.

The key point to DMK’s challenge is the EC’s requirement for voters, particularly those not listed in the 2003 roll, to furnish documentation proving citizenship.

The plea said voter verification is being converted into a de-facto National Register of Citizens (NRC) without legal backing.

The poll body is overstepping its constitutional mandate by assessing citizenship, a power reserved for the Union government, it said.

The SIR reverses the presumption of legitimacy for registered voters and forces them to re-prove citizenship, it added.

The plea also cited concerns that the poll authority had excluded commonly used identity documents such as ration cards, PAN cards, and voter ID cards at the initial stage, forcing many voters into default deletion followed by lengthy appeals.

It said an SSR was conducted in 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 06.01.2025 under Special Summary Revision and has been continuously updated since then,” it added. PTI SJK SJK KVK KVK