Stories
Justice Ujjal Bhuyan: SIR Disenfranchises Citizens, Strikes at Constitution's Heart
- •Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan stated that any process disenfranchising millions of Indian citizens and turning them into ‘second-class citizens’ without voting rights ‘strikes at the very heart of the Constitution’, amidst the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) controversy.
- •Speaking at NALSAR University of Law, Justice Bhuyan emphasized that such a process is intrinsically arbitrary and a negation of the Constitutional order, as the Constitution does not envisage two categories of citizens regarding voting rights.
- •He asserted that the right to vote is a constitutional right, not merely statutory, forming a distinct part of democracy and the basic structure of the Constitution, and cannot be tinkered with.
- •Justice Bhuyan highlighted that deletion of a voter's name from the electoral roll requires notice and an opportunity to be heard, except in the case of a deceased person, citing Supreme Court guidelines.
- •His remarks come as the Opposition targets Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR exercise, despite the Supreme Court upholding its constitutionality while clarifying ECI's powers are limited to eligibility, not citizenship status.
Key Questions Answered
Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan stated that any process resulting in the wholesale disenfranchisement of millions of citizens and depriving them of voting rights strikes at the very heart of the Constitution and is intrinsically arbitrary. He noted that such measures create second-class citizens and violate Articles 326 and 14.
In May, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi upheld the ECI's Special Intensive Revision exercise, ruling that it is constitutional and legally tenable. The court clarified that the ECI's powers are restricted to checking voter eligibility and do not extend to determining citizenship status.
Justice Bhuyan emphasized that the right to vote is a constitutional right tied to the basic structure of the Constitution under Article 326, rather than merely a statutory right. Citing legal frameworks, he reiterated that except for deceased individuals, a voter's name cannot be deleted from electoral rolls without proper notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard under Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
