SIR conceptually fraud: Ex-EC says exercise puts burden of proof on voters
Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa has called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise “conceptually fraud,” arguing that it shifts the burden of establishing eligibility from the Election Commission to the elector.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Lavasa said the exercise was “turning the old system upside down”, arguing that since Independence, it had been the responsibility of the Election Commission and its field machinery to reach out to people and include them in the electoral rolls.
“What we must understand is that the Constitution makers gave you the right to vote. You cannot exercise the right until your name is included in the electoral rolls,” Lavasa said.
“So it was the bounden duty of the EC to include people. Somehow you find out that there is an exercise in which the priority is to exclude people,” he said.
Lavasa said the objective stated by the Election Commission at the start of the SIR process -- to remove all ineligible people from the electoral rolls -- was “a very fair objective” and one that “nobody can doubt.”
However, he questioned how many ineligible voters had actually been identified and removed through the SIR exercise.
“Now that you have completed this exercise fully for 50 crore people and you are almost halfway through for the remaining part of the country, can you please tell how many ineligible people have been detected and removed?” he asked.
Lavasa said the eligibility criteria were prescribed in Article 326 of the Constitution and argued that these were the only criteria laid down for electoral registration.
According to him, the criteria are citizenship of India, being at least 18 years old, not being disqualified under the Constitution or law, and not falling under the specified grounds of disqualification.
“These are the only four criteria laid down by the Constitution. Nothing else, no other qualification is required,” Lavasa said.
He also raised questions over the status of voters removed on grounds of doubtful citizenship, referring to a Supreme Court order of May 27.
The Supreme Court had ordered that within four weeks of completion of the SIR, cases of those removed because of doubtful citizenship should be referred to Foreigners Tribunals, Lavasa said.
“It’s now four months. People are entitled to know how many cases have been referred to the Foreigners Tribunal,” he said.- Ends
