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Fali Nariman Urges Court Action Over Voter Exclusions
Fali Nariman, a former Supreme Court judge, is worried about people being removed from voter lists.
He said 90 lakh people were left off the voter list in West Bengal.
He questioned why the Supreme Court did not stop the process.
Many people appealed, and most of the appeals that had been decided went in the voters’ favour.
Nariman also wants the court to decide who should help choose election commissioners.
Under the current law, the committee includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and a Union Cabinet minister chosen by the Prime Minister.
Another judge, Ujjal Bhuyan, separately said that taking voting rights away from millions would violate the Constitution.
The reports give differing descriptions of the political outcome Nariman attributed to the exclusions.
Former Supreme Court judge Rohinton Fali Nariman urged the Supreme Court to intervene in issues involving the Election Commission and voter-list revisions.
He said 90 lakh voters were disenfranchised in West Bengal and questioned why the Supreme Court had not halted the exercise.
Nariman said about 22 lakh excluded voters appealed, and roughly one lakh appeals had been decided, with 93% in favour of voters.
He called for a decision on the challenge to the 2023 law governing appointments of election commissioners.
The second report says Justice Ujjal Bhuyan separately warned that stripping millions of citizens of voting rights would violate the constitutional order; it also reports around 13 crore names deleted in SIR exercises nationwide.
- Who
- Former Supreme Court judge Rohinton Fali Nariman; Justice Ujjal Bhuyan also made separate remarks on voter rights.
- What
- Nariman urged Supreme Court action over voter exclusions and the law governing election commissioner appointments.
- Where
- Rajkot, India; Bhuyan’s separate remarks were delivered in Hyderabad.
- When
- Nariman spoke on Sunday at an oration in Rajkot; the reports do not specify the date.
- Why
- Nariman said voter exclusions put the right to vote at risk and raised concerns about the Election Commission’s independence.
Criticism and proposed change
Current arrangement and judicial process
Election commissioner appointments
Criticism and proposed change
Nariman argued that the Prime Minister’s choice of a Cabinet minister for the appointment committee gives the government influence, and favoured a committee including the Chief Justice or the Chief Justice’s nominee.
Current arrangement and judicial process
The 2023 law provides for a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and a Union Cabinet minister appointed by the Prime Minister; the reports give no defence of this arrangement.
Voter-list exclusions
Criticism and proposed change
Nariman said the scale of exclusions and the high proportion of decided appeals favouring voters showed the process threatened voting rights and warranted court intervention.
Current arrangement and judicial process
The reports say the Supreme Court has considered challenges to SIR and describe judicial monitoring and assurances concerning exclusions, but do not present a direct response to Nariman’s criticism.
Key facts
- West Bengal voters reportedly disenfranchised
- 90 lakh, according to Nariman
- Excluded voters who filed appeals
- About 22 lakh
- Appeals decided
- About 1 lakh
- Appeals decided in voters’ favour
- 93%
- Current appointment committee
- The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and a Union Cabinet minister appointed by the Prime Minister
- Names deleted in SIR exercises nationwide
- Around 13 crore, according to the second report
- Appointment-law challenge
- A two-judge Supreme Court bench gave a split verdict and said the petition should go to a five-judge Constitution bench.
Quotes
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman
Former Supreme Court judge and former Solicitor General of India
“And the sooner the Constitution Bench decides that you have to have somebody like a Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, coupled with the Chief Justice or his nominee, who then picks up the best name in order to see that votes actually translate into what they’re supposed to translate into happens, the sooner that happens, the better.”
indianexpress.com
“So the first issue I wish to flag today is that the common man today under our Constitution, and at, if I may say so, the heart of our Constitution, the heart of our democracy, which is the right to vote, is at great peril.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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