"Cleaning electoral rolls is necessary, but not at the cost of universal adult franchise." Critically examine with reference to the Special Intensive Revision.

Article 326 gives every adult citizen the right to vote, and Article 324 puts the electoral rolls under the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ECI began the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar to prepare error-free rolls [3]. The goal is legitimate. However, the way the SIR is designed shifts the risk of an error from the State to the voter.

Why cleaning the rolls is necessary

• Accurate rolls protect the vote: urbanisation, migration, unreported deaths and ineligible entries have inflated the rolls. Bihar's last intensive revision was in 2003 [3].
• Legal mandate: in ADR v. ECI (2026), the Supreme Court examined the ECI's power under Article 324 and the RP Act, 1950 to conduct the SIR [5].
• Identity is not citizenship: the Court accepted that Aadhaar proves identity but not citizenship [4], so some verification is justified.

How the SIR strains universal adult franchise

• Reversed presumption: Lal Babu Hussein (1995) held that a person on the roll is presumed to be a citizen, and this can be overturned only through the prescribed procedure [1]. The SIR instead makes even long-time voters prove their eligibility again with documents.
• Unequal due process: Rule 21A requires a published list, public notice, a chance to object and a reasonable opportunity to show cause before any name is deleted [2]. Mass deletions skip these safeguards, while getting back onto the roll remains hard.
• Exclusion through paperwork: migrants, the poor, and women whose names changed after marriage often lack citizenship papers. Aadhaar was accepted only after the Court ordered it treated as the 12th document [4].
• Loss of trust: large-scale removals from the draft rolls in several States have made the ECI's neutrality a matter of public dispute.

Way forward

• Restore the Lal Babu presumption and ask for proof only where there is a specific, recorded doubt [1].
• Apply Rule 21A's notice-and-hearing to every deletion, and publish lists showing the reason for each removal [2].
• Accept Aadhaar as proof of identity at the enumeration stage itself, in every State [4].

A genuine citizen wrongly removed from the roll is as much an error as a ghost voter on it. Cleaning the rolls must therefore be proportionate: verify doubtful entries, but do not put every voter on trial. Free and fair elections are part of the Constitution's basic structure. An SIR that reflects Article 326's promise of inclusion would strengthen both the rolls and the ECI's credibility.