The Supreme Court on Thursday laid down a set of instructions aimed at easing the burden on Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who are currently undertaking the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across several States.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed State governments to deploy additional personnel for SIR work so that the long hours presently being logged by BLOs can be reduced. The judges further clarified that requests for exemption from duty—when supported by genuine personal reasons—must be evaluated individually, with suitable replacements arranged wherever necessary.
The Court’s directions included the following:
States must assign more staff to SIR operations in order to bring down the working hours of existing BLOs.
Any BLO seeking relief due to personal, medical or other valid circumstances should have their request examined on a case-by-case basis. If exempted, the individual must be substituted by another worker, and the State is obliged to increase manpower when required.
If any grievance remains unaddressed, the affected person is free to approach the Court for additional remedies.
The Bench was hearing an application filed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which had drawn attention to severe stress faced by BLOs, including instances of suicide allegedly linked to overwhelming workloads. Appearing for TVK, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said several BLOs—many of them Anganwadi staff and teachers—had taken their lives, reportedly after receiving threatening notices under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act warning of imprisonment for missing deadlines. He also highlighted that multiple FIRs had been registered against BLOs in Uttar Pradesh, claiming the Election Commission of India (ECI) appeared to treat such actions as achievements.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing the ECI, objected to the petition, arguing that such applications should not be entertained.
Summarising the plea, the Court noted that TVK was seeking safeguards for BLOs who, due to health issues, family situations or other personal constraints, were unable to cope with the duties assigned to them. The Court observed that while the ECI can call upon State Election Commissions to supply staff for statutory tasks like SIR, any undue hardship faced by these workers must be addressed by the respective State governments.
Ultimately, the Court ordered States to take concrete steps to improve working conditions for BLOs. The matter was heard alongside other petitions contesting various aspects of the SIR process in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. TVK was represented by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, along with advocates Dixita Gohil, Pranjal Agarwal and Yash S. Vijay.