On Wednesday, May 27, the Supreme Court of India upheld the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar, West Bengal, and other states. The apex court observed that the poll body acted within its legal authority.
Notably, Indian opposition parties had raised hue and cry about the SIR exercise asserting that legitimate voters have been deprived of their right to vote. However, they failed to submit a single proof to the court of any such incident of legitimate voters being deprived of their constitutional right.
The Supreme Court noted that SIR is a step towards accurate and inclusive electoral roll and that the exercise breathes life into Constitution.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted, “SIR advances the constitutional imperative of free and fair elections. Free and fair elections do not rest merely upon the mechanics of polling. They fundamentally depend upon the integrity, accuracy and credibility of the electoral rolls, which form the foundation of the democratic process.”
The Bench was also satisfied with the reasons provided by the Election Commission for conducting the exercise now as such an exercise wasn’t conducted for decades, and since then, a lot of changes have taken place. There were duplication of voters due to migration, repetition and inaccuracies in voters lists etc.
The Supreme Court also held that the power of ECI to decide inclusion of persons in the electoral process is limited and deletion of names does not divest the individual of their citizenship status. The citizenship status can only be determined by the competent authority.
The ruling came amid debates and legal challenges over SIR, with concerns raised by some groups regarding its implementation and disenfranchising of legitimate voters. However, the Supreme Court said that maintaining correct and transparent voter lists is directly linked to conducting free and fair elections in the country.
