The Supreme Court on Wednesday (November 26, 2025) said that the argument that the exercise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists has never been conducted before in the country cannot be the basis for questioning the validity of the decisions of the Election Commission to start this process in those states.
Starting the final hearing on petitions challenging the validity of the Election Commission’s decision to conduct SIR in several states, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the Commission has the inherent power to determine the correctness of the entry in Form 6.
A person has to fill Form 6 to register himself as a voter. The bench also reiterated that Aadhaar card does not provide complete proof of citizenship and that is why we said that it will be one of the documents in the list of documents… If any is removed then a notice of removal will have to be given.
The Chief Justice said, ‘Aadhaar is a provision made by law to avail benefits. Should just because a person is given Aadhaar for ration, he should also be made a voter? Suppose someone is a resident of a neighboring country and works as a labourer?
The bench did not seem to agree with a particular contention and said, ‘You are saying that the Election Commission is a post office, which should accept the Form 6 submitted and include your name.’ Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for some of the petitioners, said, “Prima facie, yes… unless there is material to the contrary.”
The bench said, ‘The Election Commission will always have the inherent constitutional right to determine the authenticity of the documents…’ Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also scheduled the hearing on several petitions challenging the SIR in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal.
The bench asked the Election Commission to file its reply by December 1 on the petitions challenging the SIR in Tamil Nadu and gave two days to the petitioners to file their response. The petitions will be listed on December 4. The Election Commission will have to file its reply on the petitions against SIR in Kerala by December 1 and the petitions will be heard on December 2.
The bench said the petitions against SIR in West Bengal, where some BLOs have allegedly committed suicide, will be heard on December 9 and meanwhile the Election Commission has to file its reply over the weekend. The bench said that the West Bengal State Election Commission and the state government are also free to file their reply till December 1.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice began the final hearing on the larger issue of legality and validity of the Election Commission’s decision to amend the voter list. Starting the arguments, Sibal said that the SIR process has raised fundamental concerns about democratic participation.
He said, ‘This is a matter which affects democracy.’ He said the SIR imposes an unconstitutional burden on ordinary voters, many of whom are illiterate, to fill out the form and put them at risk of exclusion if they do not. He urged the court to focus on constitutional safeguards rather than procedural fairness.
He said that once a voter’s name is included in the voter list, the presumption of validity continues until the state proves otherwise. He said, ‘A fair and impartial process should be followed to remove any name.’ He stressed that the self-declaration under Form 6 is accepted as proof of citizenship for inclusion and cannot be subjected to any unreasonable standard to maintain it.
Sibal said Aadhaar establishes residence, and although it is not conclusive of citizenship, it still gives rise to a presumption that cannot be denied. Justice Bagchi said that Form 6, used for inclusion, cannot compel the Election Commission to accept entries without verification.
Justice Bagchi stressed the need to remove dead voters and said that the lists are publicly displayed in panchayats and on official websites. He said, ‘We do not give decisions in the air.’