New Delhi, Oct 9 Observing that local body elections in Andhra Pradesh have to be held according to local laws, the Supreme Court on Friday said the final voter list, after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, has to be used if panchayat and civic polls are announced after publication of the final SIR scheduled on October 16.
The top court also said that if the panchayat and civic body polls are announced before the publication of final SIR of electoral rolls, then the earlier voters' lists have to be used for such elections.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed the orders while disposing of a plea filed by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) challenging an Andhra Pradesh High Court judgment that declined to direct the use of revised electoral rolls for the state's forthcoming local body elections.
The YSRCP, in its plea filed through lawyer Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, said the polls should be conducted on the basis of the final voter lists prepared after the Election Commission of India's SIR of electoral rolls.
Senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for the YSRCP, said that the high court had asked them to notify the civic and panchayat polls within six weeks and the apprehension was that it may be notified before the publication of final electoral rolls after the SIR.
In the plea, the YSRCP has sought directions to the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC) to prepare and publish ward-wise electoral rolls for urban and rural local bodies using the final assembly electoral rolls issued after completion of the SIR.
The challenge is directed against the high court's October 1 judgment, which declined to interfere with the SEC's decision to prepare local body electoral rolls with reference to January 1, 2026, as the qualifying date.
The high court also directed the state government and the SEC to commence the election process expeditiously, preferably within six weeks.
At the heart of the dispute is whether local body electoral rolls should be prepared using the assembly voter lists as they stood on January 1, 2026, or the revised lists emerging from the ongoing SIR.
The YSRCP has said that electoral rolls for local bodies are derived from the assembly electoral rolls and must reflect the applicable revisions, amendments, inclusions and deletions.
According to the petition, proceeding with the older rolls before completion of the SIR could result in local body elections being conducted using voter lists that have since been superseded.
The party said that this could leave entries of deceased electors and duplicate registrations in the local body rolls, while excluding eligible voters added during the revision process.
It said that the issue affects not only the right to vote but also the right to contest elections and the process of determining reservations for seats and offices.
The petition cited the draft electoral rolls published on July 31, for all 175 assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh.
It said that approximately 15.22 lakh entries recorded as deceased and 7.37 lakh duplicate or multiple registrations were not carried forward into the draft rolls, alongside entries relating to electors recorded as permanently shifted, absent or untraceable.
As interim relief, the YSRCP has asked the top court to direct the Andhra Pradesh SEC to prepare and publish electoral rolls for urban and rural local bodies by reference to the final assembly electoral rolls published after completion of the SIR, pending adjudication of its petition.
