EC's affidavit demand has no legal basis

THE ELECTION COMMISSION has asked Rahul Gandhi to submit an affidavit to substantiate his allegations regarding the manipulation of electoral rolls. This demand has no legal basis. There is no provision in The Representation of the People Act, 1950, nor in any other law that compels a citizen to file an affidavit to the EC in support of a claim about electoral irregularities.

- BY P.D.T. ACHARY

The process of preparing the electoral roll is laid down with precision in the law. First, a draft roll is published. Then, objections and claims are invited from the public. The EC examines these objections, makes corrections if necessary, and then publishes the final roll. This entire process is governed by timelines—generally 30 days for filing objections, though the EC can extend that period.

Once the final roll is published, no further objections can be entertained until the next round of revision. Elections are conducted on the basis of the final list, and any challenge to that list after the election is ordinarily outside the scope of the statutory process.

In this case, the leader of opposition has alleged that the poll body had “stolen” votes “in collusion with” the BJP in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura assembly segment—under the Bangalore Central parliamentary constituency—in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The elections were more than a year ago and the voter list had gone through the statutory process and was finalised before the polls.