Centre, Opposition parties lock horns in Supreme Court over SIR as battle heats up

New Delhi: The hearing on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) case began in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The Election Commission of India has told the Supreme Court that political parties are deliberately trying to create trouble.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the apex court that the BLA is allowed to upload 50 forms. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, said that the political parties are creating fear around the SIR.

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CJI Surya Kant said that the Tamil Nadu SIR case will be heard on Monday. The Kerala SIR case is about the postponement of SIR due to local body elections. Rakesh Dwivedi said that a petition has already been filed in the Madras High Court, and the State Election Commission has said that they are not facing any problem. He said, "The ECI and the State Election Commission are coordinating, and 99 percent of voters have received forms; more than 50 percent have gone digital."

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for ADR, said that the SIR process is being done in a hurry. He added, "Many BLOs are committing suicide, and such reports are coming. In Assam, there is no requirement for an enumeration form, and it is different from the rest of India. Please listen to our IA, we are relying on the Election Commission's own manual."

The CJI noted in the order that the Election Commission has asked that the counter affidavit be filed on or before December 1. All lawyers appearing in SIR cases in Tamil Nadu should be given a soft copy of it. The reply should be filed on or before December 3, and the matter has been listed for December 4.

The CJI further said that in the Kerala case, the Commission will have to respond by December 1, and the hearing will be held on December 2. The ECI said that the Kerala State Election Commission (Kerala SEC) should also be allowed to file its reply. The CJI said that the Kerala SEC should file the reply by December 1.

The counsel appearing for West Bengal said 23 BLOs have died so far due to SIR-related works, and added, "A response to our petition should be sought from the Election Commission." The Supreme Court has sought a reply from the West Bengal Election Office by December 1 in the case of the deaths of the BLOs. Both the ECI and the West Bengal State Election Commission have to respond by December 1, and the matter will be heard on December 9.

(With inputs from Piyush Pandey)