Recap: Election Commission discretion during SIR is not unregulated power: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 21, 2026) said the Election Commission of India (ECI) is blessed with the “widest discretions” but its “deviations” while revising electoral rolls, as in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2025 exercise, cannot be “untrammelled or unregulated” in breach of principles of natural justice and procedure prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules of 1960.
“You have the authority to deviate, but not by throwing out the Rules… Form 6 has six notified documents, your SIR has 11 documents. We would call upon you to answer if you can increase or eliminate documents which are already prescribed?” Justice Joymalya Bagchi, a member of the Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, asked the ECI.
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