New Delhi, May 30: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday said that fair rolls lead to fair polls and asserted that SIR has been immensely successful in meeting its constitutional mandate, his first public remarks after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.
He was speaking at a conference of legal counsel who represent the Election Commission in the top court and various high courts.
“Fair rolls and fair polls. That’s the moment and India is in it today… The SIR has not only withstood the scrutiny of the highest court in India, but has also been immensely successful in meeting its constitutional and legal mandate,” the CEC said.
He said that lakhs of booth-level agents, workers, electoral registration officers and other election officials are working under the EC for preparing “one of the most accurate electoral rolls in the world”.
Amid a spate of petitions in the Calcutta High Court over SIR in West Bengal and recent cases in the Supreme Court over voter list revision in Bihar, the conference of legal counsel was convened to further strengthen EC’s legal framework and strategy.
In a major victory for the Election Commission, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld its power to conduct SIR of electoral rolls and said the exercise “breathes life” into the constitutional mandate for fair elections.
Ruling on the intensely debated issue, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant held that the exercise advances the “constitutional imperative of free and fair elections”.
Several opposition parties have accused the poll watchdog of working at the behest of the BJP to snatch the voting rights of crores of citizens who are against the ruling party. (PTI)
