CPI-M terms Indian SC verdict on electoral roll revision ‘body blow to democracy’
New Delhi: The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has sharply criticised the Indian Supreme Court verdict upholding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling it a “travesty of justice” and a “body blow to democracy.”
According to Kashmir Media Service, the CPI-M in a strongly-worded statement said that the apex court had granted constitutional legitimacy to a process that led to large-scale disenfranchisement, exclusion and intimidation of vulnerable sections of society across several states.
“The judgement delivered by the Supreme Court upholding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a travesty of justice,” the party said.
The CPI-M said the petitions before the court raised a fundamental issue of whether the right to vote could be subjected to “arbitrary bureaucratic suspicion and mass documentary scrutiny.”
According to the party, the SIR exercise resulted in deletion of names of poor people, migrants, minorities, Dalits, Adivasis, landless citizens and other marginalised sections from voter lists because many lacked the required documents.
It also said the entire process lacked transparency and claimed that legitimate voters were removed without adequate notice while burdensome verification procedures created barriers for vulnerable groups.
Referring to West Bengal, the CPI-M criticised the use of the concept of “logical discrepancy,” saying that software-based algorithms classified more than one crore voters as doubtful. It claimed that nearly 27 lakh people eventually lost their voting rights despite judicial remedies.
The party further argued that the verdict effectively made voting rights contingent upon possession of “acceptable documents,” despite citizens already possessing Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards and access to welfare schemes through other forms of identification.
The CPI-M also expressed concern over what it described as a “surreptitious introduction” of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), saying the court had directed the Election Commission to submit names deleted through the SIR process to authorities for citizenship verification.
“Despite categorically stating that determination of citizenship is beyond the powers of the Election Commission, the broad endorsement of the EC’s conduct defeats that very assertion,” the statement said.
The party further said the judiciary failed to address growing concerns over the neutrality and independence of the Election Commission of India.
The CPI-M said its recently concluded Central Committee meeting had decided to launch a nationwide campaign to defend voting rights and demand comprehensive electoral reforms.
The party said it would seek to mobilise like-minded political parties and democratic forces for the campaign.
