New Delhi, July 18 (NVI) Deletion from the electoral roll after SIR exercise does not automatically result in the loss of citizenship, the Supreme Court has said.
The top court made the observation while hearing submissions that 33.5 lakh appeals against deletion of names from the electoral roll following SIR in West Bengal remain pending before 19 Appellate Tribunals, with two judges having resigned.
The case was being heard by a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
Appearing for the petitioner Prosenjit Bose, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said only around 38,000 appeals have been decided so far in West Bengal, with data showing that at least 70% have been allowed.
“On ground level, citizenship benefits are being denied to those persons,” Sankaranarayanan said.
“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,” the senior advocate added.
“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 said.
Justice Bagchi observed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is not the constitutional authority 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 court re-listed the matter for further hearing along with the batch of pleas against the West Bengal SIR. (NVI)
