Former Indian ambassador questions ECI over SIR citizenship proof requirements
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Former Indian ambassador Navdeep Suri has questioned the Election Commission of India over the documents required under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, after he said he faced difficulties establishing his details during the exercise in Punjab.
Suri, who served as India's envoy to the UAE and Egypt and as high commissioner to Australia, detailed his experience in several posts on X on Sunday.
He said he visited a booth-level officer (BLO) and submitted his voter ID and Aadhaar card. According to Suri, he was initially assured that everything was in order. He later received a message from a volunteer saying that some of his details did not match the 2003 electoral records.
Suri said the BLO asked him to collect a notice and return with documents proving that he was an Indian citizen. Since he was not in India in 2003, he was asked to provide his passport as proof.
"I happen to have documents other than voter ID and Aadhaar card. But can't help asking: If I have trouble establishing my citizenship after representing India in three countries, what's the fate of the common citizen?" Suri said.
The SIR was first introduced in Bihar in June 2025. More than 60 lakh voters, including deceased voters, were subsequently removed from the electoral rolls. In West Bengal, 90 lakh voters were deleted before the assembly election.
Under the exercise, voters not included in the 2002 or 2003 electoral rolls are required to provide documents linking them to people included in those legacy rolls. The ECI initially prescribed 11 acceptable documents, excluding Aadhaar, but later included Aadhaar following proceedings in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has observed that while the ECI has powers to revise electoral rolls, those powers cannot be "untrammelled" and must comply with principles of transparency and natural justice.