SUPREME COURT ORDERS URGENT HEARING ON NOV 11 TO TAKE UP PLEAS CHALLENGING PAN-INDIA SIR EXERCISE

The petitioners in the SIR case have questioned the absolute discretion employed by the Election Commission to conduct the revision of the electoral roll

- KALIDAS NEWDELHI

The Supreme Court on Friday (November 7, 2025) urgently listed on November 11 detailed arguments addressing the very legality of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise that was kicked off before the ongoing Bihar Assembly elections on June 24, and then expanded, in a second phase, by the Election Commission of India to cover 51 crore voters in 12 States and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry.

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi fixed the case for 11.15 a.m. on Tuesday after advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi made an oral mentioning. The SIR case had been listed earlier on November 4, but the two judges could not take it up as they were part of a Constitution Bench hearing another case on that day.

Clean up the voter list urgently, but not the Bihar way

Simultaneously, a separate mentioning was made in the morning before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai by advocate Vivek Singh appearing for Tamil Nadu’s ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which has also challenged the SIR's constitutionality. The Chief Justice told Mr. Singh that the case would be listed for hearing on November 11. It is highly likely that the DMK petition, which is a fresh one, would also come up before Justice Kant’s Bench, along with the other pending petitions in the case.

DMK terms SIR a de facto NRC