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Retired judges open an inquiry into the SIR voter list revision

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A panel of former Supreme Court and High Court judges will study the SIR voter list revision on its own, after citizens questioned how the Special Intensive Revision was designed and whom it removed. The Lawyers Association for Constitution announced the group on Friday, 2 October 2026, and said it wants the report by December 2026.

Retired judges open an inquiry into the SIR voter list revision
The Supreme Court of India, where questions about the electoral-roll revision have already been heard. Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who will examine the SIR voter list revision

Justice Madan B. Lokur, a retired Supreme Court judge, will chair the five-member panel. The others are retired Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Patnaik, former Jammu and Kashmir High Court chief justice Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad, and former High Court judges Rekha Sharma and Anjana Prakash. They are to judge the “constitutional and statutory validity, methodology, and overall impact of the SIR exercise on eligible voters”.

Corridor inside the Supreme Court of India
A corridor in the Supreme Court complex in New Delhi. Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0.

This is not a court. The SIR voter list revision inquiry will hold public hearings, carry out field research, and read the laws and notifications that govern roll revision. Senior lawyers asked to advise the panel include Kapil Sibal, Vrinda Grover, Raju Ramachandran, Prashant Bhushan and Rebecca Mammen John, among others named by the association.

Another interior view of the Supreme Court of India
Interior of the Supreme Court of India. Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What the hearings are meant to capture

The revision has been disputed since it began in June 2025, with complaints that genuine electors were struck off too quickly to object. In May the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the exercise, while saying that did not allow the commission to decide who is an Indian citizen. The panel is a civil-society record of method and effect. It does not replace an election petition or a commission order.

Court complex interior at the Supreme Court of India
Inside the Supreme Court buildings in New Delhi. Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Hearings are expected to take accounts from people who say their names vanished, and from lawyers who tracked claims and objections. A December report would land while parties are still fighting over the same rolls, and while a separate enrolment drive for missing names is only just starting.

Electronic voting machines prepared for an Indian election
EVMs prepared for polling, the machinery behind the rolls now under review. Photo: Election Commission of India (GODL).

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