SIR begins today; will be smooth and transparent, Election Commission of India assures Madras High Court

CHENNAI: A day before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is set to roll out in nine states, including Tamil Nadu, and three Union Territories, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday assured the Madras High Court that there was no need for any apprehension over the SIR in Tamil Nadu as the exercise would be carried out more efficiently and transparently than expected.

The assurance came during the hearing of petitions filed by former T Nagar MLA B Sathyanarayanan and AIADMK lawyer Vinayagam from the Tambaram constituency, seeking the court's directive to the ECI to remove the names of the deceased, migrants, ineligible voters, and duplicate entries from the rolls their respective constituencies.

Appearing for the ECI, Niranjan Rajagopal informed the bench, comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, that the commission conducts routine revisions of electoral rolls every January and before each election.

Under the programme, forms will be distributed to all voters, verified, and compiled. After the verification process, the draft electoral roll will be published on December 9, allowing voters to raise objections or corrections. The final roll will be published only after carefully examining all objections, he said, adding the exercise aims to ensure a comprehensive, updated electoral list.

Rajagopal also pointed out that since 1950, the ECI has conducted ten such intensive revisions, and this marks Tamil Nadu's first major revision in 20 years, the last being in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Commission's counsel also informed the court that a similar case filed by former minister MR Vijayabhaskar regarding the removal of deceased voters in the Karur constituency is still pending. The bench directed that all related petitions be listed for hearing on November 13.

The other states and UTs where the SIR will begin on Tuesday are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.