"Hope that Congress leaders will now stop attacking ECI": BJP leader Nalin Kohli on SC ruling on SIR

New Delhi [India], May 27 (ANI): BJP leader Nalin Kohli on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar last year, hoping that the opposition leaders will "stop attacking the Election Commission."
Speaking with ANI, Kohli defended the ECI and said that the commission conducts the SIR to correct the voter list regularly. He recognised the process as constitutional and said that every party should help ECI ensure the conduct of free and fair elections in the country and not question the democratic processes.

He criticised the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for questioning the SIR process and described the SC ruling as a precedent for the opposition party to stop raising "unnecessary questions on democracy."
"The Election Commission is mandated under the constitutional scheme to take care of elections in India and having free and fair elections is a basic requirement of a democracy. In that context, from regular intervals, the Election Commission has these special intensive drives in terms of correcting the voter list. Every political party has a stake to ensure that elections are free and fair and the voter list is absolutely pure... As far as the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi is concerned, they as a political party and he as the leader of opposition are expected to take care and take steps to strengthen democracy... I certainly hope that with this decision, the Congress Party and other political parties and the Congress Party's leaders will now stop attacking the Election Commission and stop trying to take these steps which raise unnecessary questions on democracy," he said.
On the other hand, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar last year, stating that the opposition was questioning the "exclusion instead of inclusion" process.
Speaking with ANI, the RJD MP rejected the claims that the opposition parties challenged the rights of the Election Commission, but rather the process of SIR. Stating that the parties held high hopes with the apex court, Kumar asked to wait for the detailed judgement.
"What can I say? We had hopes with the Supreme Court. What were we concerned about? We were questioning 'exclusion, instead of inclusion' process. We did not challenge the rights of the Election Commission. We will see the detailed judgment. There is nothing more to say," he said.
The remarks come after the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which was first undertaken in Bihar, holding that the exercise is constitutional, legally tenable and cannot be struck down merely because it differs from the ordinary process of voter-roll revision.
A bench of Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi held that the SIR exercise cannot be declared 'ultra vires' solely on the ground that it adopts a process distinct from the routine revision of electoral rolls contemplated under the statutory framework.
Terming the exercise a "legitimate and constitutional" one, the Court observed that "the exercise is legally tenable" and is aimed at restoring the accuracy and purity of electoral rolls.
The Court further clarified that the ECI's powers in the process remain limited to determining eligibility for inclusion in electoral rolls and do not extend to ascertaining citizenship status. It held that the deletion of a person's name from the voter list does not divest that individual of citizenship, since citizenship can only be determined by the competent authority under law. (ANI)