Supreme Court has been approached by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Azad Trust, which says the current four-week timeline for Uttar Pradesh’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is ‘administratively impossible’ and seeks a three-month extension.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Azad Trust petitioned the Supreme Court to request a three-month extension for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently taking place in Uttar Pradesh.
They assert that the existing four-week timeline is “administratively impossible” for a state with over 15.35 crore voters.
The petitioner emphasizes that the concern is not with the SIR itself, but rather with the compressed schedule, which it claims could result in widespread and arbitrary disenfranchisement.
The petition, filed as a public interest litigation, describes the Trust as a non-partisan entity focused on enhancing democratic engagement among farmers and rural laborers throughout rural Uttar Pradesh.
After submitting a representation to the Election Commission requesting additional time for the SIR with no subsequent action taken, the Trust felt compelled to pursue this legal route.
The petition, submitted through AoR Ansar Ahmed Chaudhary and drafted by Advocates Charu Mathur, Md. Anas Chaudhary, Snehla Chaudhary, and Alia Bano Zaidi, acknowledges the SIR as an essential democratic initiative but argues that the four-week timeframe is “manifestly inadequate” for a comprehensive house-to-house verification.
The Trust seeks the extension solely to ensure the accuracy of voter entries, facilitate proper handling of claims and objections, include new and migrated voters, and to prevent mass deletions that could arise from rushed verification.
They stress that this request aligns with the constitutional mandate of universal adult suffrage under Article 326. Referring to the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the petition points out that no fixed duration is prescribed for such revisions in the law; instead, timelines must be “reasonable, practicable and non-arbitrary.”
Moreover, the petition highlights that previous intensive revisions, which took place over a span of 13 iterations from 1952 to 2004, were conducted over much longer periods, with the last exercise lasting nearly two years.
The current SIR represents the first multi-state initiative in over twenty years, accentuating the importance of adequate time and procedural fairness. The Trust outlines various socio-economic and seasonal challenges that rural voters face, noting that the SIR coincides with the peak sugarcane harvesting season, during which many farmers and laborers are either fully occupied or migrating to other states.
Also Read: Your Difficulty Is Mine, I Treat the Bar as My Family: CJI Surya Kant
Additionally, issues such as illiteracy, limited access to Booth Level Officers, and mobility constraints for women and the elderly further heighten the risks of exclusion.
The petition raises serious concerns about employing untrained volunteers, such as Anganwadi workers, NCC, and NSS participants, for door-to-door verification. It argues that these volunteers lack recognition under statutory frameworks, have not received formal training, and have no confidentiality obligations. Handing them sensitive personal information poses significant risks to data security and privacy, especially amidst rampant “digital arrest” scams.
The petition also notes the burden faced by Booth Level Officers, many of whom are school teachers, required to manage an “impossible workload” within a tight timeline. Media reports have documented extreme stress and even suicides linked to administrative pressures in similar situations in other states.
The Trust argues that since there are no imminent Assembly or Parliamentary elections in Uttar Pradesh, there is no election-related urgency necessitating such a compressed timeframe. They propose practical safeguards, which include special outreach camps, trained personnel to assist vulnerable populations, mandatory acknowledgment receipts for all submissions, and designated grievance officers at the block level.
Contending that the four-week timeline contravenes Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 21, and 326 of the Constitution, the Trust appeals to the Supreme Court for a reasonable extension to ensure the SIR is conducted with fairness, transparency, and procedural integrity.
They clarify that their intent is not to obstruct the SIR but to protect millions of rural and marginalized voters from potential exclusion due to administrative urgency.
Case Title: Bharatiya Kisan Union Azad Trust v. Election Commission of India & Ors.