The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the Election Commission is empowered to conduct a limited scrutiny of citizenship status while preparing and revising electoral rolls.
The top court, however, clarified that such scrutiny cannot amount to a final adjudication of citizenship, which remains the exclusive domain of central government authorities under the Citizenship Act.
The observations on the effect of citizenship were made by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant in the significant verdict upholding the Election Commission’s (EC’s) power to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.
The bench held that the EC has the authority to examine citizenship status only for the limited purpose of determining eligibility for the electoral rolls.
“In view of the statutory requirement under Section 16 of the RP (Representation of the People) Act, the Commission, in the course of preparing or revising electoral rolls, is undoubtedly empowered to examine questions bearing upon citizenship. However, such an enquiry can only be made from the standpoint of determining inclusion or exclusion from the electoral roll and must be undertaken with due regard to the presumption operating in favour of an elector whose name is already borne on the roll.
“It is within this confined statutory setting that the Commission assesses the material before it to arrive at a determination for electoral purposes,” the verdict said.
The bench said, however, the entirety of this exercise remains amenable to judicial review for ensuring that the enquiry is conducted in accordance with law and within the bounds of procedural fairness.
It also held that deletion from the voter list does not amount to a legal declaration that an individual is not a citizen.
While an entry in the roll carries a presumption of citizenship, that presumption is rebuttable through a “proper and appropriate inquiry”, it said.
To prevent disenfranchisement, the court asked the poll panel to refer all cases of names being deleted on citizenship grounds to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act within four weeks.
The CJI said the competent authority must conclude the citizenship determination before the next Vidhan Sabha or local body elections.
If the authority confirms the individual’s citizenship, the name must be immediately restored to the electoral rolls, the verdict directed.
“Citizenship, in our constitutional scheme, is not a matter of mere formal classification. It is the juridical basis of an individual’s relationship with the State, from which flows a constellation of rights, entitlements and obligations,” it said.
The significance of citizenship is thus not confined to the sphere of electoral participation and it has a broader normative content, inasmuch as it embodies recognition of an individual as a member of the constitutional order, it said.
The bench said in cases where the EC is not satisfied that a person meets the statutory conditions for inclusion in the electoral roll, it would be incumbent upon it to refer such an individual to the competent authority within the central government for adjudication in accordance with law.
The Commission’s determination, being confined to electoral purposes, cannot assume finality on the question of citizenship. Any deletion effected on this ground shall, therefore, remain subject to the outcome of such adjudication by the appropriate authority, it said.
“We are of the considered opinion that the Commission is empowered, in the exercise of its constitutional mandate, to undertake a limited enquiry into citizenship for the purpose of satisfying itself as to eligibility for inclusion in the electoral roll. Such an enquiry does not amount to a determination of citizenship in the strict sense, and any action taken pursuant thereto is confined to electoral consequences alone,” it said.
