Millions at risk of losing their vote? Justice Bhuyan says Constitution cannot permit it

HYDERABAD: Denying citizens the right to vote is akin to taking the soul out of the body, sitting Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has said, stressing that the Constitution cannot create two classes of citizens — those with voting rights and those without them. Speaking at an event in Hyderabad, Justice Bhuyan said the right to vote is a constitutional right of citizens and that any process resulting in the wholesale disenfranchisement of citizens would violate the Constitution.

The Supreme Court judge said such an action would strike at the very heart of the Constitution. The remarks came amid growing demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the ongoing controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, although Bhuyan did not directly refer to the exercise in his speech.

“Taking away the voting rights of millions of citizens is intrinsically arbitrary. There can be no justification for such a process, and no court can condone it,” Bhuyan said. He said the right to vote was the only means through which an ordinary citizen could participate in the governance of the country. The right of Indian citizens to vote, he added, was deeply intertwined with the country's long struggle against British rule. “It is a symbol of the freedom that the country achieved through struggles and sacrifices,” Bhuyan said, adding that no authority could alter that right at will.

Bhuyan also said the Constitution does not envisage two classes of citizens based on whether they have the right to vote. Any mass disenfranchisement, he said, would have serious constitutional implications.

Nariman says voting rights face unprecedented threat

Former Supreme Court judge Justice R.F. Nariman said the right to vote was facing an unprecedented threat in the country and warned that the core of democracy was now at risk. He said around 90 lakh voters had been disenfranchised in West Bengal and urged the Supreme Court to intervene immediately to protect democracy.

Nariman said the right to vote was at the heart of democracy and expressed concern over the manner in which electoral rolls were being revised. He said the Supreme Court should step in and address the issues surrounding the process.