Thu Dec 18 08:53:00 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a summary of the text followed by a news article based on that summary:
Summary:
The Supreme Court of India has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider extending the deadline for submitting enumeration forms under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 of electoral rolls. The court’s direction came in response to petitions raising concerns about potential exclusion of electors, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. Petitioners argued the current timeline is too rushed and could disenfranchise voters, citing instances of household member discrepancies leading to deletions. While the ECI had already extended the deadline once before (December 11), the Supreme Court acknowledged the “ground realities” and pushed for further consideration. The court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the SIR on January 6, 2026. A plea regarding data security concerns associated with volunteer enumerators was not entertained.
News Article:
Supreme Court Urges Election Commission to Reconsider Voter Roll Revision Deadline
New Delhi – December 18, 2025 – The Supreme Court today pressed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take a “sympathetic view” on requests to extend the deadline for submitting enumeration forms under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 of electoral rolls. The court’s directive comes amidst concerns that the current schedule, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala, may lead to voter disenfranchisement.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing petitioners challenging the Uttar Pradesh SIR, questioned the urgency of the revision process, given the next Assembly elections are not scheduled until 2027. Kapil Sibal, representing petitioners from Kerala, argued that the current deadline of December 18 would result in the exclusion of an estimated 2.5 million electors from the draft list. He cited instances where discrepancies in household information are leading to unwarranted voter deletions. In response, The deadline for Uttar Pradesh has been revised to December 26.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi acknowledged the “ground realities” in various states and called upon the ECI to give further consideration to extending the deadline. The ECI had previously extended the deadline on December 11th.
The court has scheduled a hearing for January 6, 2026, to address the constitutionality of the SIR. During the hearing, the ECI is expected to present its arguments defending the current revision process.
The Supreme Court did not entertain a plea raising concerns about data security related to the involvement of volunteer enumerators.
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