New Delhi, May 26: The Supreme Court will deliver a crucial verdict on Wednesday regarding a group of petitions challenging the validity of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) conducted by the Election Commission of India. The bench, led by Chief Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, will make this determination.
The court must decide whether the Election Commission has the authority to conduct the SIR in its current form under Article 326 of the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the rules established under it.
Importantly, the court has not imposed a stay on the SIR process. The review has already been completed in states like Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and West Bengal, while it continues in states such as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The court allowed this process to proceed and had reserved its judgment on January 29.
Most of the petitions were filed in June 2025 when the Election Commission decided to initiate the SIR in Bihar. Notable petitioners include the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), political activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal, and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) MP Supriya Sule, among others.
Additionally, the Supreme Court had instructed the Election Commission last year to include the Aadhaar card as a mandatory document (as the 12th document) for the SIR process. However, the court clarified that the Aadhaar would not serve as proof of citizenship, and the Election Commission would be able to verify the Aadhaar cards.
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