The Supreme Court has given special instructions to provide relief to Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who are complaining of extra work pressure in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The Supreme Court on Thursday (December 4, 2025) directed the state government to provide more number of employees to the Election Commission so that there is not too much work pressure on them.

The Supreme Court gave this order while hearing the application of Tamil Nadu party TVK. The court has said that wherever needed, the state government should give more number of employees to the Election Commission for SIR. This will reduce the work pressure on employees. The court also said that the applications of those who are facing problems in doing the work of SIR due to personal reasons should be considered by the competent authorities and the decision should be taken according to the facts of each case. The Supreme Court said that if an employee wants any specific relief then he can come to the court.

The court said that SIR is an essential work related to elections. Government employees will have to do it. The court also said that if the state government has provided approximately one lakh 30 thousand employees, then what is the problem in providing another 30-40 thousand employees. The court has asked to register an FIR against the BLO who was negligent in his work. The court said that this had been happening earlier also. It is important to complete such a process within a time limit.

Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in many states have complained of work pressure regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists going on across the country. BLO officers have also demonstrated in West Bengal regarding this and a case of suicide of a BLO officer has also come to light in Moradabad, UP. The BLO also mentioned in the suicide note that he was under work pressure.

(With inputs from Nipun Sehgal)

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On the issue of pollution in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on Monday (December 1, 2025) asked whether the reason for pollution is only stubble burning. The court said that farmers are rarely in the court to present their side, hence it is easy to hold them completely responsible. The court said that even before stubble burning was done, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was never in such a bad category. Even during the Corona period, stubble was burnt, but this was not seen then.

According to the report of Bar and Bench, the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi has directed that the report should be presented in the court and told what is being done to deal with the other causes of pollution in Delhi-NCR. The court was hearing the long pending MC Mehta case, which involves air pollution and other environment related issues.

‘Only stubble burning cannot be held responsible for pollution’, said CJI
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the court that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has prepared an action plan to deal with the problem of pollution in Delhi-NCR. He said that a plan has been prepared to deal with the pollution caused by stubble burning, dust from vehicles, construction, road dust and burning of biomass. On this, CJI Surya Kant said, ‘I do not want to comment on stubble burning. It is easy to put the entire responsibility on him because farmers are hardly in court.

‘The stubble was burnt even during the Corona period, the situation was not like this then’, CJI said
CJI Surya Kant also said that stubble has been being burnt for a long time, but never before has Delhi’s air become so bad as has been seen in recent years. He said that stubble was burnt even during the Corona period, but even then the sky looked blue and stars were visible. Why? We need to pay attention to other factors also.

Court gave important instructions to deal with pollution
The CJI directed to submit a report within a week on what is being done to deal with other factors responsible for pollution. The CJI also said that both short term and long term plans should be given in the report. Justice Surya Kant said that no city was developed at this level to accommodate such a large population or with the idea that every house would have multiple vehicles. He said that the court should be told when and how the measures to tackle pollution will be implemented or are these measures just meant to be written on paper.

‘Hearing on Delhi pollution will be held twice every month’, said the court
The Chief Justice said that the case will be heard regularly and hearing will be held twice every month. He said that CAQM should re-review the measures to deal with pollution. It remains to be seen what impact the steps being taken have had. CJI Surya Kant also said that the next hearing will be on December 10.

Petitioner RJD MP Manoj Jha has raised questions on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) regarding the voter list. He has said that this process is inappropriate in practice. He said that for this the voter will have to provide his birth certificate or any such document which proves that one of his parents is an Indian. He said that if a voter’s father did not vote in the 2003 elections and died before that, then how would citizenship be proved.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared on behalf of petitioner Manoj Jha before the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. While presenting his point of view, he also raised questions on the scope of powers of Booth Level Officers (BLO). He asked, ‘Can the BLO decide whether a person is mentally challenged or not and can he decide whether a voter is an Indian citizen or not?’

According to the report of Live Law, Kapil Sibal said that it does not come under the jurisdiction of BLOs to decide whether a voter is an Indian citizen or not, because the BLOs who have been appointed are only school teachers. Kapil Sibal said, ‘Deploying a school teacher as a BLO to determine citizenship is, substantively and procedurally, a dangerous and unfair proposal.’

Kapil Sibal said that the rules being implemented are similar to the rules of the Foreigners (Citizens) Act, where the onus is on the person to prove that he is not a foreigner. Giving an example, he said, ‘The enumerator will ask the voter, tell me when was your father born? Give me proof of this… How will I be able to prove this?

He said, ‘How will I fulfill this responsibility when my father did not vote as per the 2003 voter list or he died before that?’ Chief Justice Surya Kant said on this, ‘But if your father’s name is not in the list and you also did not work on it… then perhaps you missed it…’ The court will now hear the matter on December 2.

While hearing the petitions filed to challenge the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list going on across the country, the Supreme Court has expressed concern over the issue of infiltrators. During the hearing on Wednesday (November 26, 2025), the Supreme Court asked whether any non-Indian should also be given the right to participate in the elections because of being an Aadhar card holder. The court said that the purpose of Aadhaar is to provide social welfare benefits to all people, but it cannot give the right to vote.

The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that Aadhaar does not provide proof of full citizenship, hence we had said that it can be included only as a document in the documents required for SIR.

CJI Surya Kant said, ‘If Aadhaar gives someone the right to get ration, should he also be given the right to vote? Suppose a person from a neighboring country lives here to work?

The court made it clear that Aadhaar cannot be considered an indisputable document of citizenship. Its objectives are limited. The court also refused to accept the suggestion that the Election Commission should work like a post office and automatically accept every Form 6 application. The court said that the Election Commission has the right to determine the authenticity of the documents given along with Form 6 for registering names in the voter list. The bench said that the Election Commission is not a post office.

During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for some petitioners, said that the SIR process is affecting democracy. He said that the SIR process is an unconstitutional burden on common voters, there are many voters who cannot read and write and if they do not fill the form, they will be removed from the voter list. He urged the court that if someone is removed from the list, then a fair and impartial process should be used.

Kapil Sibal said that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship, but it does give the possibility that the card holder may be a citizen. If you want to snatch Aadhaar then go through this process and let this process be proved correct in the court.

Justice Surya Kant became the new Chief Justice of the country on Monday (November 24, 2025). President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to him as the 53rd CJI. Former Chief Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai was also present at his swearing-in ceremony. Justice BR Gavai reached the swearing-in ceremony in the CJI’s official car, but after the program he went back in another car.

A statement regarding this has been issued by the office of former CJI Gavai. According to the statement, ‘Justice BR Gavai set a new example. After the swearing-in ceremony, he left the official car designated for the CJI and went back to Rashtrapati Bhavan in another car so that the Chief Justice’s car was available for the new CJI Surya Kant to go to the Supreme Court.

Justice BR Gavai retired from the post of CJI on 23 November. He became the 52nd Chief Justice of the country in May this year. During his tenure, he heard many important cases and gave verdicts. On November 21, a bench of five judges of the Supreme Court sent a presidential reference and replied to 14 questions asked by President Draupadi Murmu. November 21 was Justice Gavai’s last working day as CJI and he was also included in this bench.

Justice BR Gavai was the second Dalit judge after Justice KG Balakrishnan to head the Indian judiciary. Overwhelmed by the honor he received on his last working day, Justice Gavai said that he is leaving the institution with a feeling of complete satisfaction after completing a journey of four decades as a lawyer and judge and as a student of justice.

Justice BR Gavai had also said during this time that he is secular. Although he follows Buddhism, he has not done any in-depth study of any religion. He had said that he believes and respects every religion like Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism.

Justice BR Gavai had also told that his father was also secular and a true follower of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar and his thinking about religions came from his father only. He told that his father was associated with politics and when he used to go on his political tour and someone told him that the Dargah here is very famous or the Gurudwara somewhere is famous, then he used to visit those religious places.

(With inputs from Nipun Sehgal)

Justice Surya Kant has become the new Chief Justice of India. On Monday (November 24, 2025), President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to him as CJI. He took oath as CJI in the presence of Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, BJP President JP Nadda, former President Ramnath Kovind and former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai’s tenure as CJI ended on November 23, 2025. He remained in this post for six and a half months. Justice Surya Kant’s tenure as CJI will be for about one and a half years. He will retire on February 9, 2027. At present he is 63 years old.

CJI Surya Kant was born on February 10, 1962 in Hisar, Haryana. He was born in a normal family. Former CJI BR Gavai, while talking about his friendship with Justice Surya Kant in his farewell, had said that both of them come from very normal families.

Justice Gavai had told that CJI Surya Kant studied in a government school in Hisar and he himself studied in a municipal school in Amravati, Maharashtra. CJI Surya Kant graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar in 1981 and then obtained Bachelor’s degree in Law in 1984. He studied law from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak in 1984. In the year 2000, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana.