Upholding the legality of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the deletion of names from electoral rolls under the exercise does not determine citizenship. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi held that the inquiry carried out under the SIR process was not a determination of citizenship and was confined solely to participation in elections.
The verdict is crucial as the petitioners and the opposition had argued that the SIR exercise, which is being conducted by the Election Commission, was a citizenship verification exercise by backdoor.
WHAT SUPREME COURT SAID ON CITIZENSHIP
On the larger question of whether ECI can determine citizenship, the Supreme Court underlined a key rider. The court said the ECI could examine the same, but from the limited standpoint of determining inclusion or exclusion of the concerned person from the electoral rolls.
"The commission can delete, but that doesn't mean he or she is no more the citizen of India. It doesn't have anything to do with the determination of citizenship," the Supreme Court said.
In essence, it means that any exclusion from electoral rolls under the SIR exercise does not deprive a person of citizenship.
The Court also clearly outlined the poll body's powers.
"The ECI is empowered to undertake a meaningful inquiry into citizenship for the limited purpose of satisfying itself as to eligibility for inclusion in the electoral rolls. Such an inquiry does not amount to a determination of citizenship," the CJI said.
THE SIR CONTROVERSY
The verdict came on a batch of petitions challenging the legality of the SIR process, which required voters whose names were absent from the 2002/2003 electoral rolls to establish ancestral linkage to a person whose name appeared in that list.
The controversy began after the Election Commission launched the SIR exercise in Bihar in June last year before extending it to several states, including West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Presently, the third and final phase of SIR is being carried out in 16 states and three Union Territories.
The ECI defended the exercise as necessary to cleanse voter rolls and verify citizenship claims. However, the petitioners argued that the determination of citizenship through SIR was not within the poll body's mandate.
'DELETED NAMES TO BE REFERRED TO CENTRE'
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed the poll body to forward the names of persons deleted from the electoral roll over doubtful citizenship to the Union Home Ministry to determine their citizenship.
"The ECI is directed to refer such cases within four weeks to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955, for the determination of their citizenship claims," the CJI said.
The court directed the competent authority to complete the verification process before the next assembly or local body elections, whichever is earlier. It said the concerned individuals must be issued a notice and allowed to hear.
The Supreme Court further said that if the authority found that the "deleted individuals" were citizens, their names must be restored to the electoral rolls.
WHAT CONSTITUTES CITIZENSHIP PROOF?
So, now the bigger question is what constitutes citizenship proof? This is pertinent as the Supreme Court and the Election Commission have previously said that the Aadhaar card was not proof of citizenship.
During the SIR process, birth certificates issued by a competent municipal or government authority, a domicile certificate issued by a District Magistrate, school records, passport, and land records were accepted as proof.
With the Supreme Court now putting the onus on the Home Ministry to determine citizenship, it remains to be seen what guidelines are issued by the Centre.
