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In the hearing on SIR in the Supreme Court, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal raised questions on the powers of the Election Commission and the role of BLO, saying that what the Election Commission is doing is like checking citizenship. The power to make such a law has been given only to the Parliament or the Assembly. Sibal raised questions on the powers of BLO.
Hearing on SIR was going on in the Supreme Court. Then senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, told Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant, SIR is not a common process, it is massification en masse exercise i.e. a mass campaign being run on a large scale. This is not just photo verification, but has become like a citizenship test. The Election Commission has no legal authority to do this. His statement sparked a new debate about SIR both inside and outside the Supreme Court. Questions arose whether citizenship verification is really being done in the name of SIR? On the other hand, Kapil Sibal asked, how much power does the BLO have? Can he decide citizenship?
In front of the bench of CJI Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, Singhvi said, in the name of controlling the conduct of elections, the Election Commission cannot give such orders which are purely legislative in nature, because in the system of the Constitution, this right has been given only to the Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies. In no way can it be said that the Election Commission is the third chamber of the legislative process of the Constitution. Just because the Election Commission has been created under the Constitution, it does not get complete law making power. But the Election Commission is making real and concrete changes under this pretext, which is to make a law. They are trying to hide it.
Where is it written in the rules which documents will be asked for?
Singhvi said, Article 324 (control of elections) of the Constitution should be read in conjunction with Article 327, because 327 gives the Parliament the power to make laws related to elections. Singhvi expressed strong objection to a form issued in June 2025, in which 11-12 types of documents were asked. He asked, where is this written in the rules? Such a form can come only through delegated legislation.
Kapil Sibal asked- how much power does BLO have?
Kapil Sibal raised the question what is the limit of power of BLO (Booth Level Officer). Can a BLO decide whether a person is mentally ill?” This is extremely dangerous, by making a school teacher a BLO, you have given so much power that he will decide the citizenship. Sibal cited Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, which lays down rules for disqualification from inclusion in the voter list. This section says that the Home Ministry decides someone’s citizenship. If someone is mentally ill, his decision is taken by the court. How can you ask BLO to decide all this? He said that the rules imposed in SIR are like the Foreigners Act, where there is pressure on the person to prove that he is not a foreigner.
