New Delhi: Election commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu has placed a ‘note of caution’ within the Election Commission (EC) over the rollout of the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has triggered fears over potential harassment of genuine citizens, The Wire reported.
It is reported citing original report by The Indian Express that the final order for the SIR issued on June 24 reveal that significant changes were made to the draft version particularly with regard to removal of references to the to the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The final order dated on June 24 however is not currently accessible on the commission’s website according to the report.
Commissioner Sandhu placed a dissenting note when the June 24 order was issued, according to The Indian Express.
Sandhu reportedly wrote: ‘Care should be taken that genuine voters/citizens, particularly old, sick, PwD (persons with disabilities), poor and other vulnerable groups do not feel harassed and are facilitated’.
It is reported that the paragraph 13 of the final order carried Sandhu’s concerns however with a change in wording, dropping ‘citizens’ in favour of ‘electors’.
These concerns however were not attributed to the commissioner rather they were framed as general instructions to electoral registration officers, directing them to ensure ‘genuine electors’ are not harassed.
The draft version of the order reportedly linked the process to the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the 2003 amendment.
The draft stated: ‘The Commission has a constitutional obligation to ensure that only persons who are citizens as per the constitution of India and the Citizenship Act, 1955 (‘Citizenship Act’) are included in the electoral roll.’
The final version of the order removed all references to the Citizenship Act and the 2003 amendment, but instead the commission relied on Article 326 of the constitution.
This article according to the report ‘broadly states that a person is required to be an Indian citizen to be a registered voter’.
The removal of reference to the Citizenship Act gains importance because the 2003 amendment brought for the concept of ‘illegal migrants’ which is often legally linked to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Meanwhile, Opposition parties and civil society groups raised concerns about the SIR turning into a potential “backdoor route” to an NRC.