Supreme Court notice to Election Commission on SIR; Sapkal, Wadettiwar demand independent probe

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Election Commission. Following this, Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar raised several questions about the SIR process. Both leaders demanded an independent and impartial inquiry into the process.

Sapkal said, "My question is very clear. We have no disagreement over the changes being discussed. But that makes the question more serious: was the entire SIR process conducted wrongly? If there have been serious irregularities in the SIR process itself, why should there not be an impartial, high-level inquiry into what happened during it in Bihar and other parts of the country?"

Sapkal demanded a transparent review and inquiry into the entire process in every state, including Maharashtra, where SIR was carried out. According to him, depriving any citizen of the right to vote is a very grave matter for democracy. He said that if the inquiry proves citizens were deliberately denied their constitutional right to vote, the officials or people responsible should face the strictest action under the law. Sapkal also said, "Our final demand is clear: there should be an independent, impartial and transparent inquiry into the whole matter, and those found guilty should face strict action in accordance with the law without any delay."

Wadettiwar said the Supreme Court's notice to the Election Commission is a very serious matter. He asked, "Were decisions on the SIR process taken unilaterally? Did all members of the Election Commission agree? Were the decisions taken by majority, or only at the level of the Chief Election Commissioner?" According to Wadettiwar, the Supreme Court has sought full details on this. His direct question was who gave anyone the authority to decide on the voting rights of the citizens of this country.

Wadettiwar also said a citizen who has turned 18 must get the chance to exercise the right to vote. If a citizen's name is being removed from the electoral roll, the process behind it must be transparent and lawful.

He said that if any eligible voter has been denied the right to vote in the name of SIR, responsibility must be fixed. For this, there must be an independent, impartial and time-bound inquiry. Wadettiwar said the Opposition has for some time been continuously questioning the transparency of the election process, and the Supreme Court has now also sought a reply from the Election Commission on the process behind the decision concerned. He therefore said the matter is no longer one of mere political mudslinging but has become a serious constitutional question concerning the country's democratic system and citizens' voting rights.

Wadettiwar said, "Our demand is clear: there should be a full and impartial inquiry into the SIR process, the reasons for deleting voters' names should be made public, and if any official is proven to have broken the law, strict action should be taken against that person in accordance with the law." He also said the Congress will firmly take the position that if it is proved that the voting rights of citizens were tampered with in this process, those concerned have lost the moral right to remain in their posts, having failed in their moral and constitutional responsibility.

Wadettiwar said that in a democracy the voter is supreme and no one can arbitrarily take away the voter's right. He said, "Now this government should leave on its own, or else people will kick them out." According to him, the Congress position is that the party's agitation will now intensify.