Asaduddin Owaisi moves Supreme Court seeking review of SIR verdict, cites objections by election commissioners

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has approached the Supreme Court over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, filing a review petition against the court’s May 2026 verdict and a separate plea on the manner in which the exercise is being conducted, according to PTI and IANS.

Review of the Bihar SIR verdict

In the review petition, filed through advocate Lzafeer Ahmad, Owaisi seeks “recall of the common judgment and final order dated May 27, 2026,” PTI reported. In that judgment, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi upheld the Election Commission’s power to conduct the SIR in Bihar. PTI reported that the petition was filed on Tuesday, 13 October.

The plea states that the review “is necessitated by the subsequent disclosure of material revealing serious irregularities,” according to PTI. It cites a 23 September Indian Express report that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected to decisions and communications issued in the commission’s name without their knowledge or approval. The petition argues this would breach Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.

Plea on conduct of the exercise

On Wednesday, 14 October, advocate Nizam Pasha asked the bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Bagchi to list Owaisi’s plea on Thursday along with other pending petitions on the issue, PTI reported. The bench said it would examine the matter. PTI reported that the plea does not dispute the commission’s power to conduct an intensive revision but asks whether it was exercised lawfully. According to PTI, it seeks:

• setting aside of SIR decisions not authorised under law;
• restoration of Form 6 on the ECINET portal to the version prescribed by the rules;
• an end to reliance on software-generated flags to exclude voters;
• quashing of deletions based on bulk or automated Form 7 objections; and
• a direction to the commission to preserve and produce minutes and internal communications on the SIR.

The plea cites media reports of bulk objections it says were aimed disproportionately at Muslim electors, and invokes Articles 14, 15(1), 325 and 326 of the Constitution, PTI reported. PTI noted that these are grounds for judicial examination and not findings of the court.

“We are unable to comprehend the changes made to the statutory enumeration forms,” Owaisi said, according to IANS. Asked about the INDIA bloc’s protest on the issue, he said, “We are doing our work. You do your work,” IANS reported. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have filed separate petitions challenging the SIR.

The reports reviewed did not carry a response from the Election Commission.

Sources: ThePrint (PTI), ThePrint (PTI), Telangana Today (IANS)