DMK moves Supreme Court over SIR in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's decision to conduct a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

In its petition filed under Article 32, the DMK challenged the Election Commission's June 24 and October 27 notifications for SIR, describing them as “constitutional overreach” on the grounds that the poll panel lacked the authority to implement it.

“This is not an appropriate time to implement SIR and the Election Commission is acting beyond the powers granted by the Constitution,” it submitted.

The DMK alleged that the SIR procedure was designed in a way that enabled the removal of eligible persons and the inclusion of ineligible ones. “Implementing this SIR would put millions of Tamil Nadu voters at risk of losing their voting rights," it submitted.

The top court, which allowed the SIR exercise in Bihar to be completed, is likely to take up the DMK’s petition later this week.

The DMK’s move came a day after the Tamil Nadu Government convened an all-party meeting to discuss the poll panel’s decision on SIR in the state.

The DMK contended that a special summary revision had already been conducted in Tamil Nadu between October 2024 and January 6, 2025, during which the electoral rolls were updated to reflect changes such as migration, deaths and deletion of ineligible voters. The revised rolls were published on January 6 and had been continuously updated since then, it added.

The DMK alleged that the Election Commission has “claimed the power to assess the citizenship of individuals”, a power that rests solely with the Union Government under the Citizenship Act, 1955. By imposing documentation requirements akin to a citizenship test, the SIR allegedly transforms the EC into a “de facto National Register of Citizens”, it submitted.