BIHAR S.I.R.: DOING THE RIGHT THING THE WRONG WAY

Expecting uneducated migrants to fill and upload online forms to enroll as voters is a flight of fancy. The Election Commission still has time to take corrective steps

- JAGDEEP S CHHOKAR

A correct and up-to-date electoral roll is sine qua non for a free and fair election in a democracy. However, given the size, diversity, and geographical dispersion of population in India, we must also accept that a perfect, 100 percent correct electoral roll is an impossibility. Nonetheless, this cannot and should not detract us from continually 'cleaning' the electoral roll.

Viewed in this context, the Election Commission of India's special intensive revision (SIR) of the Bihar electoral roll, announced on June 24, cannot be faulted. However, life is hardly ever so simple. The three documents issued by the ECI that day raise a number of questions, creating confusion. Some of these questions are legal, and some procedural and practical.

One of the major legal issues is the 'disenfranchisement' of all those citizens who were registered as voters by the ECI itself, following the laid down legal procedure, since January 1, 2003. There are two parts to this.

First, in their June 24 order, ECI says that for those on the electoral roll as on January 1, 2003, there is "probative evidence of eligibility, including presumption of citizenship". This implies that this "presumption of citizenship" is not there for those registered as voters after January 1, 2003. This is grossly unfair because it amounts to depriving these people of their rights as citizens.