DC Edit | As Mamata Steps In, Will SC Protect Voters In SIR?

Deprived of its dramatic potential and historical spectacle, the appearance of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in the Supreme Court of India to personally plead the case of the people of West Bengal against the unfair, illegal and unconstitutional deletion of voters from the electoral rolls by the Election Commission of India as part of the special intensive revision, points to the need for urgent intervention of the top court in the matter.

Ms. Banerjee’s case is simple: All bona fide voters need to find a place on the lists, and it is the Election Commission’s responsibility to ensure this. West Bengal had 7.66 crore entries in the electoral roll before SIR. The ECI published a draft list after deleting 58 lakh names and flagging 1.16 crore entries as “logical inconsistencies”. But this is merely a cover-up statement for its failure to take into account Indian realities in practice. By using this clumsy statement, the ECI has effectively taken away the right of the people of West Bengal to elect their rulers. This right is the cornerstone of democracy practiced in our country.

India is a multilingual society. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution lists 22 languages, and when proper names are written in different languages, inconsistencies and inevitable errors can occur. There are men and women whose age difference with their parents is less than 15 years or more than 50 years. Sometimes couples can have six or more children. Many women adopt their husband’s name as their surname. These are facts of Indian life and are not “logical inconsistencies” strong enough to remove names from the electoral rolls.

As you may remember, the Supreme Court itself marked these issues and stated that it did not approve of using the names as an excuse to remove them from the voter list. The West Bengal CM’s case is that he refused to answer the Election Commission’s questions on these issues and hence appeared before the court in person. It is welcome that the apex court has asked the ECI to be more responsive going forward.

The points raised by Ms. Banerjee also require us to prioritize an issue that is fundamental to the functioning of our country as a democracy. Article 21 of the Constitution states that “No one can be deprived of his life or personal freedom except in accordance with the procedure determined by law.” The right to life is the basis of the citizen’s existence as an individual. Likewise, the right to exercise their right to vote as citizens of the republic is of fundamental importance to them. Therefore, it should be treated at the same level as the right to life and proper procedure should be followed before removing any person from the voter list. The whims and fancies of the officials serving on the ballot box committee cannot be the only reason why they are declared unfit to participate in the democratic process. An Indian should vote because it is their right, not by the grace of the ECI. And it is not a pleasant sight for a prime minister to appear in court to defend this constitutional right.