The Election Commission of India (ECI) stated in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court that the Kerala government's claim of administrative impasse in holding local body elections and updating the electoral roll at the same time is solely intended to "disrupt" the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Over 98% of SIR enumeration forms have been delivered thus far, according to the ECI.
“The assertion that the state administrative machinery will come to a standstill is imaginary, and the only motive is to disrupt the SIR process, which is at the stage of completion of [the] enumeration phase,” said the affidavit in response to the Kerala government’s appeal for SIR delay.

A Chief Justice of India Surya Kant-led bench is set to take up the petition on Tuesday. The Kerala State Election Commission (KSEC) and ECI were asked to respond to the state's request by the bench last week.
The Kerala government emphasized the challenges of conducting SIR, which would take place on December 9 and 11 in conjunction with elections for 1200 local self-governance institutions (LSGI) and counting on December 13.
The ECI affidavit indicated the SIR enumeration phase will finish by December 11. As of November 30, 81.19% of the enumeration forms had been scanned, and 98.67% of them had been distributed.

The ECI called the statement regarding the logistical or administrative difficulties false and unsustainable. It stated that the SIR's claims and objections phase will start on December 16 and that the polling will conclude by December 13. Additionally, 176,000 poll workers will receive free time. According to the ECI, "there is no possibility of disruption of LSGI elections due to SIR."
The ECI stated that district collectors have been permitted to employ only those people for SIR who are not allocated to local body election duties.

In their petition, Kerala said about 176,000 persons are necessary for the LSGI election process, apart from 68,000 security personnel. SIR needs an additional 25,668 employees. According to the request submitted through counsel CK Sasi, "This puts a severe strain on the state administration, bringing routine administrative work to a standstill."
The right to later contest the SIR's legitimacy as "not conducive to the democratic polity" was reserved by the state. It stated that the present petition simply seeks a limited relief to ensure the smooth conduct of local body polls by postponing SIR.According to the ECI, the claim of administrative or logistical inconvenience is completely unfounded and unsustainable because both procedures are designed to operate in a staggered and mutually exclusive way, allowing for their seamless and effective conduct without affecting either. It pointed out that an overlap is not unprecedented, as the last LSGI election in Kerala in 2020 was conducted simultaneously with the Special Summary Revision. "All pre-revision and revision activities during the 2020 special summary revision were identical to those of the current SIR exercise, with the exception of the enumeration phase."
The ECI questioned whether the state government's appeal could be sustained. It stated that the state electoral commission is in charge of overseeing and managing local body elections.

"The simultaneous conduct of SIR has not been objected to by the KSEC. The chief electoral officer (CEO) in Kerala and the KSEC are actually working closely together to guarantee that the SIR and local body elections are conducted smoothly and effectively without interfering with either process, according to the ECI.
In a different affidavit, KSEC endorsed this viewpoint. "The District Election Officers have not reported a shortage of polling personnel. There is ample administrative machinery at the command of the SEC.”