India
oi-Gaurav Sharma
Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan’s comments on voting rights have come at a critical juncture in the heated debate over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
While the Opposition has been voicing their concerns about the massive voter roll revision, there have been reports of widespread protests against the Election Commission and its handling of the SIR process in various parts of the country.
Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan warned in Hyderabad that mass disenfranchisement during the Election Commission’s SIR voter list revision violates constitutional principles like Articles 326 and 14, echoing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s views on protecting voting rights.
Speaking at the NALSAR Moot Court Valedictory programme in Hyderabad, Justice Bhuyan said that the removal of voting rights from a significant number of citizens would have damaging constitutional implications.
The justice warned that disenfranchising masses would “strike at the very heart of the Constitution” which could make people “second class citizens in their own country”.
According to the Constitution, there are no different categories of citizens such as those who possess voting rights and those who do not enjoy them, said Justice Bhuyan, referring to Articles 326 and 14 of the Constitution.
Article 326 provides for elections on the basis of adult suffrage while Article 14 says that all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to the same rights.
Justice Bhuyan said that the process of voter roll revision which would disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of citizens would violate these articles.
“No authority is bigger than the Constitution,” said Justice Bhuyan, adding that he believes that Article 326 cannot be “tampered” with because it is directly related to voting rights and citizenship.
When the Constituent Assembly decided to adopt universal adult franchise, Justice Bhuyan said, it was Dr. BR Ambedkar who argued that voting rights should be protected by the Constitution and not dependent solely on ordinary legislation.
Justice Bhuyan’s comments have acquired fresh importance as political confrontations over the SIR process intensify. While the Opposition has been raising the issue of voter exclusion as a major plank in their attacks on CEC Gyanesh Kumar, the Election Commission has defended the process as its mandate.
