Citizenship has to be ‘continuously fulfilled’ to retain place in electoral roll: EC to Supreme Court in SIR hearing

Even registered voters are required to “continuously fulfill” the indispensable information of Indian citizenship, arsenic laid retired successful Article 326 of the Constitution, to clasp their spot successful the electoral roll, the Election Commission of India (ECI) told the Supreme Court connected Tuesday (January 27, 20260, during its proceeding connected the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise.

Article 326 provides for big suffrage, and requires that a idiosyncratic should beryllium 18 years old, an Indian citizen, and not disqualified by instrumentality to beryllium entitled to registry arsenic a voter.

“These are indispensable conditions. The fulfillment of these conditions is simply a continuous requirement. You cannot accidental erstwhile my sanction is entered, whether I suffer eligibility oregon not, I americium entitled to enactment connected successful the electoral roll,” elder advocator Maninder Singh, for the EC, submitted earlier a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.

Verification, not determination

The Bench was proceeding a batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the SIR workout conducted successful Bihar.

“The SIR is simply a verification exercise,” Mr. Singh argued

Also Read | Supreme Court proceeding connected SIR updates

Senior advocator Dama Seshadhiri Naidu, besides appearing for the EC, said the SIR was not a determination of citizenship.

“An workout to verify citizenship is antithetic from a process determining citizenship,” helium said.

He illustrated however young lawyers person their qualifications verified earlier becoming a subordinate of the Bar bodies.

Mr. Naidu argued determination was “not adjacent 1 ailment of lapse successful Bihar”. He sought to absorption connected the “collateral advantage” of the SIR, explaining however elector turnouts roseate successful 2025 aft the door-to-door survey conducted for the exercise.

“It had aroused the involvement of the communal man. It drafted enthusiastic voters and weeded retired the dead, duplicates successful the electoral roll,” helium submitted.

‘No added parameters’

Advocate Eklavya Dwivedi, for the EC, wrapped up the EC’s effect to the petitions challenging the SIR, arguing that a spot successful the electoral rotation was a “qualified right”.

“Without impervious of qualification, nary idiosyncratic tin participate the electoral roll,” helium submitted.

Mr. Dwivedi said the EC had not added immoderate further limitations to the conditions prescribed successful the Constitution nether Article 326, and successful Sections 16 (disqualifications for registration successful an electoral roll) and 19 (conditions of registration) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950..

“The limitations travel from Article 326 work with Section 16 and 19. It is not the lawsuit that we person travel up with a argumentation and accrued the threshold of eligibility. We are verifying the eligibility parameters. It is not that we person asked you to beryllium the parameters successful Article 326 on with further parameters ‘X’ and ‘Y’. In the lack of further limitations, determination is nary question of proportionality,” Mr. Dwivedi completed the counter-arguments for the EC.