The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to publish the list of deleted voters in Kerala

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make public the list of voters deleted during the special summary revision (SSR) of the voter list in Kerala, as concerns were raised that nearly 24 lakh names were deleted without giving adequate opportunity to file objections. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SSR process in the state. The petitioners contended that the affected voters were being deprived of their statutory right to file objections.

Referring to its earlier orders regarding a similar process in Bihar, the bench said that in this case too, the draft voter list was directed to be put up for public display. Accordingly, the court ordered that the list of deleted voters in Kerala be uploaded on public websites, if not already done, to ensure transparency in the SSR process.

Considering the difficulties faced by citizens, the court further said that the Election Commission may consider extending the period for filing objections to the draft voter list. The matter will be heard further after the Election Commission and the state authorities file compliance reports.

During the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, opposed the deferment of the SSR process and said that 99 percent of the enumeration forms have already been provided to voters, of which about 50 percent have been digitized. He said that the SSR is being conducted in coordination with the Kerala State Election Commission (SEC) and administrative arrangements have been made to ensure that the process does not clash with the local body elections. Mr. Dwivedi said that both commissions are working in close coordination, meetings with district authorities have been held, and there is no administrative hurdle in the conduct of the electoral preparations along with the SSR. He further said that the process requires a limited number of booth-level officers and the state election commission has confirmed that its work is not being hindered.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Ranjit Kumar, appearing for political parties and the state government, sought an early hearing in view of the upcoming local body elections. They clarified that there is no proposal to file a rejoinder to the Election Commission's affidavit, but an early hearing has been sought to ensure administrative clarity.

The Kerala government and leaders of various political parties have filed petitions, including IUML General Secretary P K Kunhalikutty, KPCC President Sony Joseph, and CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan Master. The state has not challenged the legal validity of the SSR notification but has sought its deferment, arguing that conducting the process along with the local body elections would create serious administrative difficulties.

Earlier, on November 21, the Supreme Court had issued notice to Kerala on its plea seeking deferment of the SSR process. The state, through advocate C K Sasi, had argued that the clash of timings between the SSR and the local self-government elections could affect the constitutional responsibility to hold elections within the stipulated time and might even paralyze the administration.

Local body elections in Kerala are scheduled to be held on December 9 and 11, 2026, covering over 1,200 local self-government institutions and more than 23,600 wards, with counting of votes on December 13. In view of this schedule, the state government says the entire administrative system should focus on the electoral process. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has also separately challenged the Election Commission's state-wide SSR decision, alleging that the process is arbitrary, unconstitutional, and could lead to large-scale disenfranchisement of voters before the local body elections. The IUML's petition has been filed under Article 32 of the Constitution by its General Secretary P K Kunhalikutty through advocate R S Jena.