Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 3: The Lawyers’ Association for Constitution (LAFC) has constituted an independent five-member commission of former Supreme Court and high court judges to examine the Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The commission is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur. Its other members are former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Patnaik, former chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad, and former judges Rekha Sharma and Anjana Prakash.

According to the LAFC, the commission will examine the constitutional and statutory validity of the SIR exercise, its methodology and its overall impact on eligible voters.

It will specifically examine whether eligible citizens have been retained on the electoral rolls and whether ineligible entries have been appropriately excluded.

As part of its inquiry, the commission plans to hold public hearings at various locations across the country. Full and regional benches will travel to different places to record the views and testimonies of affected citizens, civil society organisations and experts.

The LAFC said the commission would function autonomously and have the final responsibility for its findings and recommendations.

A number of senior lawyers, including Kapil Sibal, Prashant Bhushan, Chander Uday Singh, Prashanto Chandra Sen, Raju Ramachandran, Rebecca Mammen John, Warisha Farasat and Vrinda Grover, will provide strategic legal advice to the commission.

The panel has been constituted amid continuing scrutiny of the SIR exercise undertaken by the Election Commission as part of its electoral-roll revision process.