NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday raised concerns over reports of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) being threatened and obstructed while carrying out the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal and other states, PTI reported.“Bring to our notice instances of lack of cooperation, threatening of BLOs; we’ll pass orders,” the bench told the Election Commission of India (ECI) after it claimed that its work was being “hindered” in some states.The ECI later stated that if the situation continues to worsen, it would have no option but to take police under deputation. The Commission told the Supreme Court that it has all constitutional powers to deal with the threatening of BLOs and other officials engaged in SIR work.
“Deal with situation or it will cause anarchy,” the SC warned the ECI, referring to the lack of cooperation from certain state governments in facilitating the SIR exercise.The apex court asked the Election Commission to take a firm view of the lack of cooperation from state governments and ensure the exercise is carried out without intimidation or interference.During an earlier hearing, the bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant had flagged the heavy workload placed on BLOs, noting claims of severe stress, pressure, and even deaths linked to the SIR drive. The court directed states to immediately deploy additional manpower, reduce working hours, and consider exemption requests on an individual basis where justified. It reiterated that governments are duty-bound to provide adequate staff.The EC has repeatedly defended SIR as a constitutionally mandated obligation to “clean” the voter lists. It argues that maintaining correct and current electoral rolls is essential to the integrity of the electoral process, and that it retains the exclusive discretion to decide when and how to revise rolls.’This came after several petitions and PILs were filed before the Supreme Court, contending that the design and implementation of SIR threatens the fundamental right to vote of large numbers of genuine voters. Petitioners argue that the documentation requirements, tight deadlines, and house-to-house enumeration make the exercise arbitrary and could lead to large-scale disenfranchisement, particularly of marginalised, poor, migrant, or otherwise vulnerable populations. They contend that the new procedures deviate from older rules, create a “citizenship test,” and fail to ensure proper notice or due process before deleting names. On June 24, the EC issued an order triggering SIR, starting with the Bihar, which was due for assembly elections, and indicating that other states and union territories would follow in a phased drive.
