SIR Of Tamil Nadu Electoral Rolls Will Begin In A Week: Election Commission Tells Madras High Court

The Election Commission of India (ECI), on Friday, informed the Madras High Court that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Tamil Nadu electoral rolls would commence in a week. 

The submission was made before the bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan. The court was hearing a petition filed by former AIADMK MLA B Sathyanarayanan seeking directions to the Election Commission to conduct a complete and transparent re-verification of the 229 booths in T Nagar Constituency.

Appearing before the bench, the Standing Council for the ECI, Niranjan Rajagopal, submitted that the SIR for the Tamil Nadu electoral rolls would commence in a week and that the petitioner's grievance would be effectively redressed through the revision. The court took note of the submissions and adjourned the case by a week.

Sathyanarayanan, who had contested the 2021 assembly polls from the T.Nagar constituency, had alleged that there was a systematic failure in maintaining the electoral rolls. He argued that he had lost the 2021 elections by a mere 137 votes, and the same was due to mass deletion of genuine voters in T. Nagar.

He argued that the State Election Commission had a legal and constitutional obligation to conduct a demographic audit of the constituency voter list against the census/population data, correct wrongful deletions, and ensure inclusion of eligible citizens

He further submitted that he had conducted a door-to-door verification of 100 booths out of the 229 and noted that there were duplicate/double entries, inclusion of non-resident voters, and inclusion of deceased voters. He added that even though these reports were submitted to the Election Commission, they have miserably failed to verify the same, and no action has been taken to remove the deceased voters. 

Sathyanarayanan further stated that the BLOs have prepared reports without conducting actual field visits, thus defeating the very purpose of the electoral verification. He stated that this negligence was not just inefficiency but a serious dereliction of duty, and allowing such discrepancies would compromise the integrity of the final electoral roll, thereby impacting the fairness of the upcoming elections.  

Sathyanarayan stated that the actions of the Election Commission were contrary to the provisions of the Representation of the People's Act 1950 and against the right to vote guaranteed under Article 326 of the Constitution. He further stated that the actions of the officers also contravened the Election Commission's own guidelines and instructions.

Thus, stating that the Election Commission's failure to act decisively would not only perpetuate electoral malpractice but also erode public trust in the democratic process, the petitioner sought directions to the ECI to conduct re-verification to rectify wrongful inclusions and deletions.

Case Title: B Sathyanarayanan v. The Chief Election Commissioner and Another

Case No: WP 39744 of 2025