Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jul 18: The Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that deletion of a person's name from the electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise does not automatically result in the loss of citizenship.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana made the observation while hearing a petition filed by Prasenjit Bose seeking reforms to streamline the appellate process for persons excluded during the SIR exercise.
"We are conscious of this. In our Bihar SIR judgment, we made it clear that ECI has a corresponding duty: as soon as there is a decision, it has to refer the matter to the Ministry for adjudication under the Citizenship Act. Unless that is done, status must go on," Justice Bagchi observed.
The bench was hearing submissions that nearly 34 lakh appeals remain pending before 19 Appellate Tribunals, with two judges having resigned.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that only around 38,000 appeals had been disposed of so far and that available data showed nearly 70 per cent of them had been allowed.
He further alleged that while the appeals remain pending, the West Bengal government has been denying benefits under the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Annapurna Yojana and even caste certificates to those whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls.
"On ground level, citizenship benefits are being denied to those persons," Sankaranarayanan submitted.
"What I am explaining is that after 34 lakh appeals that are pending, if only 38,000 have been disposed of, there are 33 and a half lakh that are still pending. That deprivation will continue until the appeals are heard," he added.
Justice Bagchi observed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is not the constitutional authority empowered to determine citizenship under Articles 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Constitution.
"ECI has control over rolls. It can decide not to include someone. However, that does not result in loss of status of citizenship per se. Therefore, we have given corresponding duty," he said.
The Supreme Court re-listed the matter for further hearing along with a batch of petitions challenging the West Bengal SIR exercise.