5 months ago
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ARTICLE AD BOX
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has submitted its affidavit implicit the ongoing peculiar intensive revision of electoral rolls successful respective states, refuting allegations of wide deletion of genuine voters arsenic “highly exaggerated, speculative and politically motivated.
”In an 81-page counter-affidavit filed connected November 26 successful a petition by TMC MP Dola Sen and others, the canvass sheet said the communicative alleging wide disenfranchisement successful West Bengal was being “amplified to service vested governmental interests.”In the affidavit, Pawan Diwan, the caput of the Election Commission, sought dismissal of the petitions filed against the canvass panel’s decisions to behaviour SIR.“That it is submitted, that a harmonious speechmaking of Articles 324 and 326 work with Sections 16, 19, and 22 of the RP Act 1950, work with Rule 21A, makes it wide that the ECI is vested with powers to measure the eligibility of the electors including citizenship for enabling the law close to vote,” it said.“The guidelines issued with respect to the SIR workout are law and successful the involvement of maintaining the purity of electoral rolls, which is simply a pre-requisite for escaped and just elections that signifier a basal diagnostic of the Constitution,” it added.The canvass sheet besides said its powers to undertake specified revisions are firmly grounded successful Articles 324 and 326 of the Constitution, and successful assorted provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules.
In its affidavit, the canvass sheet said, “Under Article 324 of the Constitution, the superintendence, absorption and power of the mentation of electoral rolls for, and the behaviour of, each elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of each authorities are vested successful the Election Commission of India.”The EC stressed that the mentation and revision of electoral rolls is simply a “cooperative and participatory exercise”, and that lone those electors who cannot hint their eligibility to the past nationwide SIR conducted successful 2002 are required to motion enumeration forms and aboriginal taxable documents if asked.The affidavit emphasised that eligibility nether Article 326 — citizenship, age, residency and lack of disqualification — is presumed unless contrary inputs are received. Therefore, allegations of arbitrary classification oregon usurpation of Article 14 were “misconceived”, it said.“That the SIR workout adds to the purity of elections by weeding retired ineligible persons from the electoral roll. The entitlement to ballot flows from Article 326 work with Sections 16 and 19 of the RP Act 1950 and Section 62 of the RP Act 1951...,”
it said.This comes aft a seat of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi sought abstracted responses from the canvass sheet connected the pleas filed by the DMK, CPI(M), the West Bengal portion of the Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, challenging the SIR workout successful Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively.The pan-India SIR was launched done an bid dated June 24, opening with Bihar. Phase II, covering 12 states including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, commenced aft a follow-up bid connected October 27, it added.“This Court would beryllium loath to countenance the highly speculative and exaggerated contentions of the petitioner successful the contiguous writ petition arsenic regards anticipation of wide disenfranchisement and improper implementation of SIR successful the State of Tamil Nadu,” it said.It said the ECI is cognizant of its work towards the electors, and each imaginable efforts are being made to guarantee the SIR workout is implemented successfully and nary eligible elector is near retired of the electoral rolls.Dismissing these concerns, the EC said the claims were “highly speculative and exaggerated.”
