The Supreme Court has delivered a landmark judgment upholding the constitutional validity of the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ruled that the SIR exercise is legally tenable and does not violate the Representation of the People Act. The court emphasized that the exercise "breathes life" into the constitutional mandate under Article 324 to ensure free, fair, and pure elections.
Limited Citizenship Inquiry Allowed
Addressing a central legal challenge, the Supreme Court clarified that while the Election Commission has the authority to conduct a "limited inquiry" into citizenship status purely to determine a person's eligibility for inclusion or exclusion from voter lists, it does not possess unfettered power to determine citizenship in a strict sense. The court underscored that deletion from a voter list does not divest an individual of Indian citizenship, which can only be adjudicated by competent authorities under the Citizenship Act.
Referral to Home Ministry
The poll panel has been directed to forward the names of individuals deleted due to doubtful citizenship to the Union Home Ministry within four weeks for detailed review. This directive ensures that the final determination of citizenship rests with the appropriate authority, safeguarding the rights of affected individuals.
Petitions Dismissed
The verdict dismissed a batch of petitions filed by political leaders and NGOs who argued that the stringent ancestral documentation requirements under the SIR risked disenfranchising marginalized and migrant voters. The court found that the SIR exercise, while rigorous, does not arbitrarily strip individuals of their voting rights and includes safeguards to prevent wrongful exclusion.
This judgment reinforces the Election Commission's role in maintaining accurate electoral rolls while respecting the legal boundaries of its authority. The decision is expected to have significant implications for electoral roll revision processes in Bihar and other states where the SIR was implemented.
