New Delhi: Five former judges, including retired Supreme Court judges A.K. Patnaik and Madan B. Lokur, have been brought together by the Lawyers’ Association for Constitution (LAFC) to independently examine the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.The lawyers’ outfit said the decision was prompted by concerns raised by citizens over the process and the outcome of the SIR, which began in summer 2025 in Bihar and has since covered 30 states and Union Territories.Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad, former chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir high court, Justice Rekha Sharma former Delhi high court judge and Justice Anjana Prakash, former judge, Patna High Court, would be part of the independent inquiry commission.The LAFC said that the judges would function as an independent inquiry commission that will submit a report on the SIR by December. The inquiry would be conducted autonomously and the five-judge panel would examine the constitutional and statutory validity, methodology and overall impact of the SIR on eligible voters.The SIR has excluded from the draft rolls over 13 crore voters, including around 5.8 crore who failed to make it to the draft rolls in 10 states and 3 Union Territories. Final lists of voters deleted for the entire country are yet to be published.Also read: SIR Draft Rolls Cut Electorate to 817.9 Million, Near 2015 Level: ReportThe nationwide exercise has sparked widespread public protests following the shrinking of the voter lists across states. The Indian Express recently reported on the dissent within the Election Commission of India (ECI), which has steered the process since last year.The Supreme Court, which earlier said it would step in if there were mass deletions from voter lists, recently declined to hear a plea before two by-polls in which 18,000 voters in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal had appeals pending against their not featuring in the draft rolls.“These are only by-elections, that’s all,” the CJI said, according to Bar and Bench.The top court is scheduled to hear a plea regarding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, which was a key demand of protesters in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and elsewhere on Friday, October 2.The scope of the inquiry for the commission would include evaluating whether the SIR could retain every eligible citizen on the electoral rolls while properly excluding ineligible entries. The format to be followed is holding nationwide public hearings for which full and regional benches of the commission will travel across the country.The judges will hear the testimonies of affected citizens, civil society groups and experts, said LAFC.It will also set up a dedicated research wing on voter roll additions and deletions across the country and present it before the commission. It work will be supported by a legal team.Lawyers including Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Raju Ramachandran, Rebecca Mammen John, and Vrinda Grover, Prashanto Chandra Sen. Chander Uday Singh, Warisha Farasat, and Prashant Bhushan will be among the legal advisors of the commission.As of Friday night, the protesters against the SIR and CEC Kumar faced heavy police resistance and are scheduled to continue at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday, October 3.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.