After DMK, IUML moves SC against SIR

Kerala-based Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Monday (November 17, 2025) challenged the expansion of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the exercise has been deliberately timed by the Election Commission of India to collide with the local body elections and put unnecessary pressure on State officers, leave out NRI voters in the State and exclude as many voters as possible from the draft voter list.

The IUML petition filed through general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, represented by advocate Haris Beeran, said the duration of the SIR from November 4 to December 4 in Kerala was “loaded with ulterior motives”.

It said the State Election Commission had issued a notification on November 11 for the conduct of the local body elections in Kerala.

The poll schedule indicates that the polling would be held across the State in two phases on December 9 and December 11, and results would be declared on December 13.

“The Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the State. It is at this stage and in the same period that the ECI has stipulated SIR for Kerala. This means that the State and its machinery would be fully pre-occupied with the local body elections and, simultaneously, the SIR has to be also conducted. This creates a situation where the State machinery, including the Booth Level Officers (BLO) would not be in a position to conduct SIR because of the pressure of work on both counts,” the petition noted.

The party submitted that BLOs have already been complaining that their daily work schedule stretched from 7 am to 8 pm even during weekends.

“It is humanly impossible for them to cover the houses and to distribute the enumeration forms. The process of visiting the houses has to be conducted three times. The pressure of work of the BLOs has come to such an extent that it has led to the extent of suicide of a BLO Aneesh George in Kerala. Similarly another case of suicide of a BLO has been registered in Rajasthan,” IUML submitted.

The party agreed with Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party that SIR was actually a “de-novo verification of all existing electors”,

Kerala had concluded a comprehensive Special Summary Revision and published the final electoral rolls on January 6, 2025. Continuous revision of electoral roll is happening under Rule 21A of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

“There exists no factual or administrative necessity for reopening the electoral rolls under an SIR,” IUML contended.

‘NRI voters left out’

Besides, the party raised the spectre of NRI voters being left out of the electoral roll.

“In Kerala, there is a good percentage of NRI voters who are residing abroad for the purpose of employment, business and other purposes,” the petition said.

Although the ECI has mentioned an online registration facility, the BLOs would have to physically come and verify whether an NRI was in-fact a resident of the address given in the enumeration form.

“If the NRI is not present when the BLO comes for verification, he or she would be excluded from the voter list of the State,” the party argued.