Revision of Electoral Rolls in Bihar | Day 21: ECI defends its power to verify citizenship in voter rolls

From restricted franchise to a citizen-based republic

Dwivedi referred to early electoral arrangements under colonial rule, including communal electorates introduced in 1909 and a limited franchise that extended voting rights to a small section of the population. Expansion of the franchise, he submitted, formed an important part of the freedom struggle. He referred to arrangements such as separate electorates for Europeans with weighted reservations. According to him, the framers of the Constitution consciously moved away from these models and anchored the idea of a democratic republic in citizenship.

Citizenship and the Constitution

Dwivedi argued that the Constitution is citizen-centric. No vital sovereign function, he submitted, can be performed unless the person concerned is a citizen. He referred to Articles 124 (3) and 217 (2) that govern the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts, to show that citizenship lies at the core of the constitutional design. When Article 324 speaks of citizens, he submitted, the ECI must inquire into citizenship through a competent authority. The nature of revision, whether summary or intensive, does not change that duty. “If even one foreigner is there, whether one or one hundred or one thousand, they have to be excluded,” he submitted.

Article 324 and the statutory scheme

Dwivedi submitted that Article 324 of the Constitution does not stand displaced merely because Parliament has legislated on elections. Referring to Articles 324, 325 and 326 read with Section 16 of the Representation of People Act, 1950 (RP Act), he argued that the statute does not fully occupy the field of revision of electoral rolls. Parliament may prescribe procedures, he said, but the Court must still examine how much of the field the statute actually covers. Where the statute does not expressly foreclose constitutional power, Article 324 continues to operate.

Referring to the RP Act, Dwivedi submitted that Section 9 does not exclude the ECI’s role. Even where similar questions arise under the statute, he argued, the Constitution continues to vest authority in the ECI in matters relating to elections. In such cases, he submitted, the opinion of the ECI attains finality.

Electoral rolls and the NRC

Dwivedi rejected comparisons between the SIR and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). He submitted that the NRC seeks to include all persons, whereas electoral rolls operate on a narrower footing. Electoral rolls include only citizens who have attained the age of 18, and the law excludes others, including persons of unsound mind. “All citizens are not included in the electoral roll,” he submitted. On that basis, he argued that the electoral roll, on the face of it, is not comparable to the NRC.

The ECI will continue its submissions on 8 January.