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Supreme Court Ruling on Special Intensive Revision Petitions

Friday, May 29, 2026
5 min read
Supreme Court Ruling on Special Intensive Revision Petitions

The Supreme Court is finally going to deliver its ruling on these petitions. They’re challenging the whole Special Intensive Revision , that SIR, done by the Election Commission of India.

A bench, Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, they’re pronouncing the judgment today.

The petitioners, they brought this case claiming something big. They argued the Election Commission just doesn't have the power. They pointed to Article 326 of the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and all the rules made under it. They felt the ECI completely lacked the authority to run this massive revision exercise, this whole thing on such a large scale.

The court had already paused things, reserved its judgment back on January 29th, after hearing all the arguments. There were people pushing back, of course. The NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, ADR, they were among those who fought the exercise. They argued the ECI just doesn't have the constitutional or statutory right to do this kind of huge revision.

During those hearings, the Supreme Court decided not to stay the SIR process right then. But they made it clear. They wanted to look at the bigger question. Did the ECI actually have the authority to conduct this exercise? It wasn't just about stopping the process.

The bench also noted something else. Even if those final electoral rolls get published, the court can still step in. If they find any illegality in how this whole thing was done, they can intervene. It’s a real check.

The Election Commission defended itself, naturally. They said their powers come right from Article 326 itself. That article limits voting rights strictly to Indian citizens. They insisted that making sure only eligible citizens are on the rolls is a constitutional duty. Letting non-citizens vote, they argued, would just tear apart the whole democratic setup.

The whole SIR thing really caused a huge stir, didn't it? It kicked off major controversy when the ECI told voters who weren't on the 2002 or 2003 lists to try and establish some kind of ancestral link with people whose names were already on those records. That part was messy.

And the Commission kept pushing back on something else too. They maintained that things like Aadhaar cards or voter identity cards absolutely cannot be treated as conclusive proof of citizenship. That’s a line they held to.

Now, the exercise itself has wrapped up in a few places. Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal—those states are done. But it’s still moving. It’s happening right now in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Things are still shifting.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

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