The Supreme Court has upheld the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, rejecting petitions filed by political parties that challenged the exercise. The court said the Constitution empowers the Commission to carry out such revisions to keep voter lists accurate and trustworthy.
The SIR was undertaken around Bihar’s Assembly election last year, during which about 6.5 million names were removed from the rolls. The exercise was later extended to states that were to face Assembly polls, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
In its ruling, the court noted that rapid urbanisation, large-scale migration for work, illegal immigration from neighbouring countries, failure to remove deceased persons’ names, and duplicate entries across multiple locations can undermine the authenticity of voter lists. It accepted the Commission’s argument that an intensive revision is necessary to address these issues.
The court also clarified that while examining eligibility for inclusion in the voter list, the Election Commission has full authority to consider questions related to citizenship. At the same time, it said the Commission may conduct a limited inquiry for eligibility, and such an inquiry does not amount to a final determination of citizenship.
The verdict, the article argues, reinforces the Election Commission’s independence in ensuring free and fair elections and underlines that the accuracy of electoral rolls is central to democratic credibility.
