As Supreme Court upholds SIR’s legality, Chief Election Commissioner says ECI will always be with voters

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. File

| Photo Credit: The Hindu

As the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls done by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday (May 27, 2026) said the ECI “was, is and would always” be with the voters.“The first step for nation building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote in accordance with the Constitution, electoral laws, rules and instructions issued there in,” the CEC said in a video message.“The EC was, is and will always be with the voters,” he added.The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 27, 2026) upheld the SIR of electoral rolls as an exercise done by the ECI in furtherance of the Constitutional principle of free and fair elections.A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant dismissed the petitioners’ view that SIR was a surreptitious, backdoor move to conduct citizenship screening in the name of cleaning up the electoral roll off aliens. Published - May 27, 2026 08:06 pm IST