Kerala has told the court that severe staff shortages and the overlapping election schedule have made it impractical to conduct the revision. Local body polls must be completed by December 21, and the state government argues that rushing through voter verification risks compromising the integrity of the electoral roll. Assembly elections in the state are due by May 2026.
The Election Commission has maintained before the Kerala High Court that SIR is a nationwide exercise already more than halfway complete, and halting it midway could affect the next election cycle. The High Court, citing similar cases pending in the Supreme Court, declined to issue a ruling and deferred the matter to the apex court for uniform consideration.
According to Election Commission data, BLOs have distributed SIR Phase II forms to roughly 99% of the targeted votersover 50.40 crore people across 12 states and Union territories. More than 10 crore forms have already been digitised.
Meanwhile, a Block Level Officer in Gujarat’s Kheda district died of a heart attack while on SIR duty, triggering concerns about workload pressures linked to the revision exercise. Rameshbhai Parmar, a government schoolteacher assigned as a BLO, reportedly worked late into the night due to poor connectivity in his village. His family alleges that the heavy workload contributed to his death.
The Supreme Court’s decision is expected to shape how the nationwide revision proceeds in the coming weeks, particularly in states heading into elections.
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