The Supreme Court on Thursday, December 4, 2025, made it clear that State governments must manage Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who struggle with election duties. The Court refused to allow reports of BLOs' distress to delay the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant said States could replace employees unable to handle the pressure or assign more staff to support BLOs. The Court stressed that BLOs, as State employees, have a duty to distribute enumeration forms during the SIR. It said the States must ease hardships. The Court said, "Whenever an employee has any individual, specific reasons for seeking exemption from the assigned duties, the competent authority, the State government, may consider such requests on a case to case basis and replace such persons." The Election Commission (EC) backed this stance. Senior advocates for the EC said claims of BLOs under pressure were "works of imagination". Each BLO handles up to 1200 electors and has 37 days to finish the work. In Tamil Nadu, 90% of forms are done; in Uttar Pradesh, 85%. Yet, some BLO deaths were reported. On the other side, senior advocate Kapil Sibal urged the Court to see BLOs’ problems as real. He questioned why the SIR must finish in two months when the Uttar Pradesh election is in 2027. He warned about unchecked data and disputed claims of intruders. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan noted BLOs, chosen from aanganwadi workers and teachers, faced threats of punishment and arrest. "Fifty FIRs have been registered against BLOs under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act," he said. Thirty BLOs across India have died by suicide. He asked the Court to stop the EC from filing criminal cases against BLOs and urged humane treatment. The Bench made it clear the responsibility lies with States, not the EC. Chief Justice Kant said, "The work cannot be hampered on this ground. Somebody has to do this... They are State employees. There is an obligation on them." The Court instructed States to ensure only fit employees are appointed as BLOs. The SIR process must complete on time without disruption. Published December 04, 2025 at 03:19 pm IST.