NEW DELHI: As Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) sparks fear of possible exclusion of voters, particularly as it aligns with the 2003 Citizenship Act, former Election Commissioner (EC) Ashok Lavasa on Saturday said that it is not the responsibility of Election Commission of India (ECI) to issue citizenship certificates.In a June 24 directive, the ECI cited Article 326 of the Constitution, stating that “a person is required to be an Indian citizen, for his/her name to be registered in the roll. The commission has a constitutional obligation to ensure that only persons who are citizens are included”.Speaking to this paper, Lavasa said that according to the Citizenship Act, it is the responsibility of the state or the government to issue any kind of citizenship card or certificate. It is not ECI’s job to issue that certificate, he said. The Election Commission is a constitutional body and its role is to supervise the elections, he added.“There was a system in place for enrolling people for the last seven decades. And it was nobody’s contention, least of all EC’s. So today, to invoke Article 326 doesn’t sound convincing,” said the former EC. It is unfair to ask a person to submit his/her documents if they have already been enrolled as an elector after following due process, he said.
Source link
