SYLLABUS

GS-2: Indian Constitution—Amendments, Significant Provisions and Basic Structure; Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure; Salient Features of the Representation of People’s Act; Functions and Responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies. 

Context: The Supreme Court recently upheld the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to undertake a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, affirming that purification and updating of voter lists fall within the Commission’s constitutional mandate to ensure free and fair elections. 

More on the News

• The challenge before the Supreme Court arose from petitions questioning the legality of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), alleging that the exercise could lead to large-scale disenfranchisement and impose onerous documentation requirements on voters. 

• A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) v. Election Commission of India case upheld the ECI’s power to conduct the revision, observing that preparation and maintenance of accurate electoral rolls constitute a core constitutional responsibility of the Commission under Article 324 of the Constitution. 

• The Court clarified that while the ECI possesses the authority to verify electoral rolls, the exercise must be conducted in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner consistent with constitutional guarantees. 

• The judgment comes amid a broader debate on electoral integrity, voter registration, migration, duplication of entries, and the inclusion-exclusion balance in electoral roll management. 

Key Highlights of the Verdict

1. Electoral Roll Purification as a Constitutional Duty

• The Court held that preparation, maintenance, and periodic purification of electoral rolls are integral to the ECI’s constitutional responsibility of conducting free and fair elections. 

• It observed that an accurate electoral roll is the foundation of electoral democracy and that periodic verification is necessary to remove duplicate, shifted, deceased, and otherwise ineligible entries. 

2. ECI’s Authority to Conduct Special Intensive Revision

• The judgment reaffirmed that the ECI possesses the constitutional and statutory authority under Article 324 and the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to undertake a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) whenever necessary. 

• The Court observed that constitutional bodies such as the ECI are entitled to a presumption of legality in the discharge of their statutory functions and that courts should not interfere unless actions are shown to be arbitrary or contrary to law. 

3. Legitimacy and Procedural Fairness of the Exercise

• The Court held that the SIR pursues a legitimate constitutional objective of safeguarding the purity, credibility, and inclusiveness of the electoral process and satisfies the test of proportionality. 

• It further found that the exercise is consistent with the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which provide safeguards through claims, objections, corrections, and appeals. 

4. Citizenship Verification and Voter Eligibility

• The Court observed that citizenship is a statutory requirement for voter registration and therefore cannot be completely ignored during electoral roll revision. 

• However, it clarified that the ECI’s role is limited to determining electoral eligibility and that it cannot function as a citizenship adjudication authority or tribunal.

Significance of the Judgment

• Strengthening Electoral Integrity: The ruling reinforces the ECI’s authority to maintain accurate and credible electoral rolls, thereby enhancing public confidence in the electoral process. 

• Reaffirming Institutional Independence: By recognising the Commission’s constitutional role, the judgment strengthens the autonomy of the ECI in performing its election-management functions. 

• Balancing Inclusion and Accuracy: The Court sought to strike a balance between preventing electoral fraud and safeguarding the voting rights of genuine electors. 

• Supporting Free and Fair Elections: Accurate electoral rolls form the foundation of democratic legitimacy and are essential for ensuring free, fair, and transparent elections.

About Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

• A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a comprehensive verification exercise undertaken by the Election Commission to update electoral rolls through house-to-house verification and scrutiny of voter records. 

• Unlike routine annual revisions, an SIR involves extensive field verification aimed at identifying: duplicate entries, deceased voters, shifted electors, ineligible persons, and omissions from electoral rolls. 

• The objective of the exercise is to ensure that electoral rolls remain accurate, inclusive, and free from fraudulent or duplicate registrations, thereby strengthening the integrity of the electoral process. 

• The importance of accurate electoral rolls flows from Article 326 of the Constitution, which provides for elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies on the basis of universal adult suffrage. 

• The statutory framework governing electoral rolls is provided by the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which empower the ECI to undertake enrolment, correction, deletion, and revision of electoral rolls, including Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises when necessary. 

• Key provisions under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 include: 

• Section 16: Non-citizens are barred from being registered in the electoral roll. 
• Section 21: It deals with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls. 

                       Section 21(2): This subsection provides for the normal annual or general revision of electoral rolls.

                       Section 21(3): ECI can direct a “special revision”, including Special Intensive Revision, for any constituency or part of a constituency.  

• Under Registration of Electors’ Rules, 1960, the electoral rolls can be revised either intensively or summarily or partly intensively and partly summarily, as the ECI may direct.

• In an intensive revision, the electoral roll is prepared afresh through field verification. 
• In a summary revision, the existing roll is updated through additions, deletions, and corrections

About the Election Commission of India (ECI)

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an independent constitutional body established under Article 324 of the Constitution, which vests in it the superintendence, direction, and control of elections as well as the preparation and revision of electoral rolls. 

• It is responsible for conducting elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the offices of the President and Vice-President of India. 

• Under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, the ECI consists of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and such number of Election Commissioners (ECs) as may be determined by the President.

• The CEC and ECs are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a three-member Selection Committee comprising:

• the Prime Minister (Chairperson), 
• the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (or leader of the single largest opposition party), 
• a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. 

SOURCES:
The Hindu
Scobserver
The wire
Livelaw