The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu has approached the Supreme Court of India challenging the second-phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI). In its petition, the party argues the process is effectively a “de facto” National Register of Citizens (NRC) and a threat to the constitutional guarantee of universal adult suffrage.
Key issues raised by the petition
The DMK’s petition contends that:
- The October 27, 2025 directive for fresh SIR in Tamil Nadu lacks statutory basis neither the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (ROPA) nor the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 provide for the new enumeration forms and procedures prescribed.
- The timeline is unreasonably short, with the electoral roll having already been updated via a Special Summary Revision (SSR) between October 2024 and January 6, 2025.
- The documentation requirements imposed by SIR mimic those of a citizenship verification exercise, thereby reverse-presuming legitimacy of registered voters and placing an undue burden on them to prove citizenship.
- The process may disenfranchise lakhs of genuine voters especially youth, migrants, women, marginalised communities due to under-documentation and exclusion of common ID proofs such as ration cards, PAN cards or EPIC in many cases.
- The unilateral imposition of SIR without state consultation or demonstrable administrative exigency undermines the federal structure and turns the state into a mere implementing agency of central directives.
The challenge comes amid heated political debate in Tamil Nadu. In an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, the DMK and its allies resolved to move the Supreme Court, describing the SIR process as a “hasty exercise aimed at murdering democracy and taking away the voting rights of the Tamil Nadu people.”
The ECI, for its part, has maintained that the SIR is necessary to cleanse electoral rolls and remove bogus and duplicate entries ahead of upcoming elections.
What happens next?
The petition, filed by the DMK organising secretary R. S. Bharathi through senior advocate N. R. Elango, is likely to come up for hearing soon.
While the matter is pending, the ECI’s SIR process is slated to begin in Tamil Nadu from October 28, 2025 in parallel with 11 other states and UTs even as legal challenges remain.
Depending on the Supreme Court’s directions, the conduct of election-roll revision in Tamil Nadu could change substantially, impacting the preparation for the next assembly polls and raising broader questions about electoral rights and citizenship verification across India.