NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to consider extending the December 11 deadline for submitting enumeration forms in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala by one more week, in view of the ongoing process for local body elections.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made the recommendation after taking note of submissions that the local body elections in the state will take place on December 9 and 11, and counting of votes on December 13.
“It seems to us that the request is just and fair, and it warrants due consideration by the Election Commission of India,” the order said.
The court allowed the petitioners to submit a formal representation to the Election Commission by Wednesday 5 pm seeking SIR extension. It asked the EC to consider the request sympathetically and take a decision within two days.
Senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission of India, said the Kerala State Election Commission has already exempted SIR staff from election duties, adding that the SIR deadline had earlier been extended from December 4 to 11.
Terming it a peculiar situation, the CJI said the state government staff should not be overburdened.