The petitioners, including NGO Association for Democratic Rights, contended that while there is no dispute that citizenship is a prerequisite for voting, the core question was whether the ECI can determine citizenship at all.THE SUPREME Court will on Wednesday deliver its judgment on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in various states beginning with Bihar.A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had reserved its decision on a batch of petitions challenging the ECI’s powers on January 29 this year.The court while refusing the stay the SIR process had, however, said that it will examine if ECI had the powers to do the special revision. It said that publication of the final list will not stop it from intervening if it is satisfied that there is some illegality in the exercise.The ECI took the stand that the power flows from Article 326 of the Constitution dealing with universal adult suffrage, which gives the right to vote to only citizens, and this empowers it to ensure that those on the roll are indeed citizens. Allowing non-citizens to vote would “go against the grain of the Constitution”, the poll panel had argued.It had said that it is empowered “to verify the citizenship status of an individual for the limited purpose of ensuring that an individual fulfills the eligibility criterion of being on the electoral roll”. It added that the exercise was needed to weed out voters who may be dead or have shifted to another constituency.The petitioners, including NGO Association for Democratic Rights, contended that while there is no dispute that citizenship is a prerequisite for voting, the core question was whether the ECI can determine citizenship at all.They also claimed that the process was rushed through in Bihar while parts of the state were reeling under floods, leading to disenfranchisement of many eligible voters, including religious minorities. The ECI, on the other hand, had claimed that there was hardly any appeal filed against the exclusions.Story continues below this adSome of the petitions also challenged the SIR exercise in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and some other states. Petitioners included TMC MP Mahua Moitra, RJD MP Manoj Jha, Congress MP KC Venugopal, and NCP MP Supriya Sule. © The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:supreme court