Congress respects SC verdict on SIR, fears BJP using it as weapon

Congress MP Manickam Tagore said the party respects the Supreme Court's verdict on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) but accused the BJP of using it as a 'weapon'. The party also raised concerns over the ECI's implementation and citizenship questions.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Wednesday said that the party respects the Supreme Court's verdict on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) over electoral rolls, while accusing the BJP of using it as a "weapon."

The Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission of India's (ECI) SIR exercise, which was first undertaken in Bihar, holding that the exercise is constitutional, legally tenable and cannot be struck down merely because it differs from the ordinary process of voter-roll revision.

Manickam Tagore warned against the alleged misuse of the SIR exercise and said, "We respect the Supreme Court's verdict, but the main issue is the way the Election Commission is bulldozing the SIR exercise and attempting to misuse it. In states where the BJP wants to manipulate elections, they are using SIR as a weapon. Therefore, while we respect the Supreme Court's views, SIR should not be allowed to become a weapon that undermines the democratic process in India."

Today, a bench of Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi held that the SIR exercise cannot be declared 'ultra vires' solely on the ground that it adopts a process distinct from the routine revision of electoral rolls contemplated under the statutory framework. The apex court further clarified that the ECI's powers in the process remain limited to determining eligibility for inclusion in electoral rolls and do not extend to ascertaining citizenship status. It held that the deletion of a person's name from the voter list does not divest that individual of citizenship, since citizenship can only be determined by the competent authority under law.

Congress Details Concerns

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Singhvi said the issue of SIR was always about "substance and intent" rather than the Election Commission of India's (ECI) power to conduct the revision.

"SIR is always and was always a matter of substance, never a matter of form. It is about substance and intent. Really speaking, the power of doing SIR was not being questioned. What was being questioned was the mode, manner, timing and style of doing it. The substance of the lack of justice was the question mark," Singhvi said." On that count, unfortunately, the Supreme Court judgment, which has upheld the legal and constitutional validity of SIR, has raised as many questions as it has answered," he added.

Citizenship Determination a Key Issue

Raising concerns over citizenship, Singhvi said the Supreme Court had clearly held that the final authority to determine citizenship lies with the competent authority under the Citizenship Act and not with the Election Commission.

"The final decisive body regarding citizenship is not the Election Commission. The decisive body under the Citizenship Act is the competent authority, which consists of the Ministry of Home Affairs and others...And their decision will be binding and final. So if this is true, you saw that in all 12-14 states, the 7.5 crore people who were removed primarily on the basis of citizenship, right? So how did it happen that they were removed before their citizenship was decided?" Singhvi said. The Congress leader also alleged "significant flaws, serious flaws, errors, deficiencies and gaps" in the Election Commission's implementation of the SIR process. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)