As SIR expands, questions on EC’s power to conduct exercise, verify citizenship still pending in SC

The Election Commission of India’s authority to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls remains under question in the Supreme Court, even as the poll body announced the SIR’s second phase which will cover 51 crore voters in 12 States and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry.

The Supreme Court, in a July 10 order, had highlighted the basic questions posed by petitioners challenging the first phase of the SIR exercise in Bihar. These primarily included whether the Election Commission (EC) has the “very powers to undertake the exercise”. Secondly, the court had flagged the petitioners’ objection to the “procedure and the manner in which the SIR exercise is being undertaken”.

“An important question has been raised in this bu