6 months ago
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The Election Commission of India has dismissed arguments raised successful the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) lawsuit by Opposition parties that lone the Union authorities has exclusive authorization to scrutinise citizenship, saying the Centre’s powerfulness is “limited” to inquiring into the circumstances successful which Indian citizens voluntarily acquired overseas citizenship.
The Commission referred to Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which deals with the termination of citizenship successful cases of voluntary acquisition of overseas citizenship. Section 9 vests successful the Centre the authorization to find “when oregon how” an Indian national acquired overseas citizenship.
“The powers of the Central authorities are confined to reviewing the acquisition of overseas citizenship, and whether based connected specified acquisition, the Indian citizenship of a idiosyncratic should beryllium terminated… It is lone for this constricted intent that the exclusive jurisdiction has been vested successful the Centre, to the exclusion of each different authorities. Every different facet related to citizenship tin beryllium inquired into by different authorities,” the Election Commission argued successful a 184-page affidavit.
Opposition parties successful Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal person described SIR arsenic citizenship screening. Parties including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam person alleged that the EC is misusing the revision of electoral rolls to behaviour a “de novo National Register of Citizens”.
The EC asserted its authorization to “assess citizenship” for the intent of registration successful electoral rolls. Indian citizenship is 1 of the law preconditions nether Article 326 for introduction into the elector list.
“Even if we assume, without conceding, it is lone the Centre which tin appraise citizenship, it is imperative to enactment that impervious of citizenship sought from existing electors nether the SIR workout is for a constricted purpose, that is, registration successful the electoral rolls which alteration the close to vote,” the Commission submitted.
It emphasised that the SIR workout was not meant to find the presumption of citizenship.
The EC reiterated that its powerfulness to scrutinise citizenship flowed straight from Article 324, which empowers it to supervise and power the behaviour of elections, and Article 326. No parliamentary instrumentality could oust the EC’s jurisdiction, it said, noting that adjacent the authorization of Parliament to marque laws connected elections nether Article 327 indispensable align with the Commission’s plenary powers.
The Representation of the People Act (ROPA), 1950, done Sections 16 and 19, requires that voters indispensable beryllium Indian citizens. Section 16 disqualifies non-citizens from being included successful the electoral roll, and electors indispensable beryllium “ordinarily resident” successful a constituency to beryllium registered.
An SIR, conducted nether Section 21(3) of ROPA, has to beryllium “intense” and is triggered by “felt necessities”, the EC said.
“The guidelines issued with respect to the SIR are law and successful the involvement of maintaining the purity of the electoral rolls, which is simply a pre-requisite for escaped and just elections that forms a Basic Feature of the Constitution,” it argued.
The EC denied the Opposition’s assertion that SIR was unconstitutional due to the fact that it shifted the load of verification onto electors, who indispensable capable up enumeration forms (EFs) to debar exclusion from the electoral rolls.
The Commission said SIR was a “voter-friendly” and “cooperative exercise”. Electors were required lone to motion their pre-filled EFs delivered astatine their homes by Booth Level Officers.
“This is simply a minimal request expected from electors who are incapable to hint their eligibility to the erstwhile SIR 2002,” the EC said.
Enrolment successful the elector database was not the “end of the matter”, it added. Voters indispensable beryllium capable to scope polling stations and formed their votes. Dead oregon permanently shifted electors cannot bash truthful and should beryllium removed from the rolls, the aforesaid arsenic non-citizens, it said.
