EC retains power to ensurepurity of electoral rolls: SC told

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it has the power and competence to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and that it carries a constitutional duty to ensure no foreigner is registered as a voter.
The submissions were made by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi as final hearings resumed on petitions challenging the SIR exercise in several states, including Bihar, raising questions on the scope of the poll panel’s powers, citizenship and the right to vote.
Dwivedi said the Constitution is predominantly citizen-centric, pointing out that all key constitutional functionaries across the three organs of the State must be Indian citizens. Citing provisions such as Article 124(3), he noted that appointments to posts including the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and judges of constitutional courts require Indian citizenship.
“All vital appointments can be made only if the person is a citizen,” Dwivedi said, adding that there is a constitutional duty to ensure that no foreigner figures on the electoral rolls. He said inquiry into citizenship must be undertaken by competent authorities, though the nature of such inquiry may vary.
He asserted that the EC is not expected to respond to political rhetoric and that its sole responsibility is to ensure electoral purity. The senior advocate posed a key constitutional question on whether Article 324, which vests the EC with powers of superintendence, direction and control of elections, is entirely displaced by statutory provisions or must be applied case by case.
Dwivedi argued that Articles 324, 325 and 326, read with Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, do not foreclose the EC’s authority to revise electoral rolls. “The field is not totally foreclosed,” he said.
He clarified that electoral rolls differ from the NRC, apply only to adult citizens, exclude disqualified persons, and reflect the Commission’s constitutional obligation to protect democratic integrity nationwide fully.