THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
NEW DELHI, May 27: The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) power to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, ruling that the exercise is aimed at ensuring free and fair elections.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi dismissed challenges to the ECI notification issued in June last year for conducting SIR in Bihar.
SC says ECI acted within constitutional powers
The court held that the Election Commission has the authority to conduct SIR under Article 324 of the Constitution, read with the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and related rules.
“When the statute itself authorises a special revision at any time, for reasons to be recorded and in such manner as the Election Commission may deem fit, the impugned exercise cannot be invalidated,” the bench observed.
The judgment said the SIR process strengthens the integrity, accuracy and credibility of electoral rolls, which form the foundation of the democratic process.
Verification does not negate citizenship presumption
Rejecting the petitioners’ arguments, the court said asking voters to furnish supporting documents during verification does not amount to denying the presumption of citizenship.
“The presumption continues to operate, but it does not negate the possibility of verification,” the bench said.
The court also ruled that the SIR process does not violate the Representation of the People Act or the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
ECI can examine citizenship for electoral purposes
The Supreme Court clarified that the ECI can examine questions related to citizenship while preparing electoral rolls, but such findings are limited only to electoral eligibility.
“It does not operate to divest the individual of claims to citizenship,” the court observed, adding that final adjudication on citizenship remains with the competent authority under the Citizenship Act.
The court directed the ECI to forward names of persons deleted from the 2003 Bihar electoral rolls over doubtful citizenship to the Central Government within four weeks.
Petitioners called SIR an ‘NRC-like’ exercise
Several petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms, Yogendra Yadav, Mahua Moitra, Manoj Jha, KC Venugopal and Supriya Sule, had challenged the SIR process.
They argued that the exercise amounted to a “backdoor citizenship verification” drive similar to the NRC and unfairly shifted the burden of proof onto voters.
The ECI defended the exercise, saying it was aimed only at maintaining “electoral purity” and ensuring that only eligible citizens remain on electoral rolls.