A Supreme Court judge has questioned the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, expressing concerns over its potential impact on voters' rights. Protests are being held nationwide over the functioning of the Election Commission.
Amidst growing concerns that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls could potentially deny genuine electors their right to vote, Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has stated that any process that disenfranchises Indians is 'intrinsically arbitrary', reported Bar and Bench. He made these remarks while speaking at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research in Hyderabad. Bhuyan further noted that such a process 'strikes at the very heart of the Constitution' and 'is a negation of the constitutional order'.
Former Supreme Court judge Rohinton Fali Nariman has also expressed concerns about 13.8 crore voters having been removed from the electoral rolls of 33 states and Union Territories. He stated that the Election Commission cannot function in this manner, reported Live Law.
These statements come as protests are being held in several parts of the country calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over concerns about the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the special intensive revision exercise. Speaking at a law school in Hyderabad, Bhuyan said that unless a voter has died, no one else's name can be deleted from the electoral roll 'without notice and hearing'. He added that the right to vote or the right to be included in the voters list cannot be detached from the persona of an Indian citizen. Any process leading to wholesale disenfranchisement of Indian citizens, making them citizens without voting rights, violates Articles 326 and 14 of the Constitution, Bhuyan said.
Article 326 provides every Indian citizen the right to vote once they reach the age of 18. Article 14 provides for equality before the law.
Source:
Scroll.in
