Good that SC recognised voting as a constitutional right. But, for that to have meaning, ensuring inclusion in voter rolls must be EC’s positive duty. And the burden of justifying exclusion must shift to it. The judgment doesn’t address that.
Supreme Court yesterday upheld EC’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The judgment answers four questions: whether EC had the power to conduct SIR, whether that power was exercised proportionately, whether the procedure violated the statutory scheme, and whether EC can scrutinise citizenship of voters. On each count, the court ruled in EC’s favour, except to say EC can’t be the final arbiter of citizenship. So, Bihar SIR stands, and what SC has sanctioned will now be repeated across the country.
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