New Delhi, Nov. 27 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file responses by December 1 to the petitions challenging the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal even as the poll panel argued that situation on ground is smooth and it is the political party leaders who are unnecessarily creating a "scare". The court was hearing multiple petitions challenging the SIR process in the three states filed by political parties - DMK, senior political functionaries belonging to Kerala Congress, IUML and CPI(M), and Trinamool Congress leader Dola Sen among others. Besides, the Kerala government also filed a petition requesting for deferment of the ongoing SIR exercise as it is clashing with the local body polls to be held on December 9 and 11. The state pointed out that sparing officers for SIR will adversely affect the smooth conduct of the Panchayat elections. Considering the urgency of Kerala, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant agreed to have the matter heard on December 2 with the petitioners appearing in the Kerala batch of cases waiving off their right to file a response to ECI affidavit. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for the ECI told the court that the situation on ground was much different from what is presented in the petitions. He said, "99% of the enumeration forms have been distributed in the state and much of the work is already over. The ECI is coordinating and consulting with the Kerala state election commission (KSEC) and the latter has assured that the enumeration will be over by December 4. This matter can be heard after that." The petitioners represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Raju Ramachandran among others told the court that the situation on ground is quite different as booth level officers (BLOs) entrusted with the enumeration exercise are being pressurised as many have committed suicide while some are hospitalised. "What is happening on ground is the other way round of what is stated by the ECI." He referred to a communication by ECI which said that after December 4, the last date for submitting filled enumeration forms, there are restrictions upon the BLOs to upload the forms digitally. Dwivedi told the court that the same issue was raised by some petitioners in the Kerala high court where the KSEC stated that we need a small section of BLOs for SIR. "The KSEC has said our work is not being hampered by the local body elections. Their response is also essential in these proceedings. I have statistics available with me to show the exercise is going on smoothly. It is these political parties and leaders who are creating a scare." The bench, also comprising justice Joymalya Bagchi said, "We will also ask the KSEC to file its response. We will also get an official confirmation from ECI. They will give a clear status of what is happening on the ground." Ramachandran, who represented some of the petitioners challenging the SIR in Tamil Nadu said that there is urgency in his state too as 50% of the forms have been distributed and the BLOs are facing problems in going door-to-door due to intermittent rains and an impending cyclone alert in the state. When the court wished to know if all the petitions are challenging only the procedure of SIR, Sibal replied that several petitions have questioned the basis for SIR and its timing. Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee who was appearing in a challenge to the West Bengal SIR stated that 23 BLOs have committed suicide in the state and if the case is not heard by the court, the draft roll will be published by December 9. He requested the court to issue notice to WB government for filing a response in these proceedings. The bench observed, "If we feel that an alarming situation has happened in the state and large number of people have been left out, we can say you have made out a good case for us to intervene." The court further directed the ECI to file its response to the petitions challenging SIR in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal by Monday and agreed to have a dedicated hearing for Tamil Nadu matters on December 4 and West Bengal matters on December 9. The court also allowed the WB goverenment to file its response. The court is already examining the constitutional validity of the SIR process conducted in Bihar....