Supreme Court stands with BLOs; Orders extra staff for SIR

Supreme Court Orders Support for BLOs

New Delhi: Work is progressing rapidly under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. This process is placing immense pressure on Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Several serious incidents, including suicides by BLOs, have been reported. Considering the increasing workload, the Supreme Court has now intervened on behalf of the BLOs and directed states to deploy additional staff.

Supreme Court Directives: Relief for BLOs

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued several clear directives to states to reduce the workload on BLOs. These include: reducing working hours, deploying additional staff, and considering requests for exemptions on humanitarian grounds. The court also stated that any BLO can approach the court directly with their problems.

SP engages voters in Mainpuri as EC grants only one-week SIR extension; Watch video

Order to Deploy Additional Staff

The SC directed states to deploy additional staff for the SIR process. The aim is to reduce the working hours of BLOs and provide them with mental and physical relief. The court clarified that individual exemption applications from BLOs should be decided on a case-by-case basis and that work should not be disrupted under any circumstances.

Protection and Relief for BLOs

Following the cases of BLO suicides, the court stated that no FIRs or threats of imprisonment should be issued against BLOs. If a BLO is unable to work, other personnel should be appointed immediately. The court said that government employees deployed with the Election Commission for SIR duty must perform these duties, but if a BLO is facing difficulties, additional staff can be deployed.

Parliament Winter Session 2025 Day 2: Speaker Om Birla summons leaders over SIR debate

Court's Humanitarian Approach

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that state government or state election commission employees, who are deputed under the ECI for statutory duties including SIR, are obligated to perform these duties. The court issued three main directives:

• Deploy additional staff to reduce the working hours of BLOs engaged in the SIR process.
• Decide on exemption applications from BLOs citing health or personal reasons on an individual basis and immediately appoint replacements.
• BLOs are permitted to approach the court directly if they do not receive any other form of relief. These instructions from the Supreme Court are expected to reduce the mental pressure on BLOs and ensure that the SIR process is completed smoothly.