A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant stated that it cannot be said that the Election Commission acted outside statutory powers by exercising SIR
Image: IANS
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 27, upheld the Election Commission of India’s power to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise of electoral rolls. The top court noted that the poll panel “advances the constitutional imperative of free and fair elections”.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant stated that it cannot be said that the Election Commission acted outside statutory powers by exercising SIR, PTI reported.
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“We are unable to conclude that the impugned exercise is a process resorted to solely for administrative convenience. On the contrary, we hold that the electoral SIR advances the constitutional imperative of free and fair elections,” the bench observed.
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The apex court was hearing multiple petitions that challenged the exercise and claimed that the poll panel does not hold powers under Article 326 of the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950 as well as the Rules made under it to carry out SIR in a larger form.
On January 29, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on the petitions, which included the one filed by the NGO – Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Notably, the SIR was carried out in Bihar during the maiden phase of the exercise.
Final arguments related to the matter were heard by the Supreme Court on August 12 last year. At that time, it noted that the inclusion or exclusion of names in the electoral rolls falls within the constitutional remit of the Election Commission.
The poll panel, back then, came out with 65 lakh names that were removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the SIR exercise.
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