"Cleaning electoral rolls and protecting the right to vote are both constitutional imperatives." Discuss this with reference to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Article 324 gives the Election Commission of India (ECI) control over electoral rolls. Articles 325–326 promise every adult citizen a place on one general roll [1]. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) started in Bihar in 2025 and has since spread nationwide. It tests whether a roll can be both accurate and inclusive.

Cleaning rolls: a constitutional imperative

• Purity of the roll: SIR aims at rolls "free of ineligible or duplicate entries". Names are deleted for death, permanent shifting, duplication or being untraceable [2].
• Legal footing: In ADR v. ECI (2026), the Supreme Court held that SIR rests on Sec. 21(3), RP Act 1950 read with Art. 324, and that it is proportionate [1].
• Citizenship as eligibility: The ECI may hold a limited citizenship enquiry, but only for the purpose of the roll [1].
• Scale: Phase II alone covered nearly 51 crore electors in 9 States and 3 UTs [2].

Protecting the right to vote: the concerns

• Error-prone first cut: Bihar's electorate fell from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore. Draft deletions of about 65 lakh were far higher than final ones, so many names were restored only after claims [3].
• Reversed burden of proof: Existing electors must prove their eligibility again. This is hardest for migrants and people without documents.
• Narrow document list: Aadhaar was accepted only after a Supreme Court order in September 2025 [1].
• Transparency and collegiality: Civil society groups want a public social audit under the ECI's own Manual on Electoral Rolls (2023). They also allege that decisions did not reflect the full Commission [4].

Reconciling the two

• Judicial safeguards: Citizenship-ground deletions must go to the Citizenship Act, 1955 authority within four weeks, preferably for decision before the next election. Anyone wrongly deleted can seek judicial review [1].
• Reasoned deletions: Publish booth-wise lists of deleted names with the reason for each.
• Social audit: Verify at the gram/ward sabha level with the BLO (Booth Level Officer) and ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) present, on the MGNREGA model [4].
• Collegial functioning: Record majority and dissenting views in Commission decisions.

A clean roll and an inclusive roll are two sides of free and fair elections. The answer is neither a blanket rollback nor unchecked deletion. It is transparent verification with targeted restoration. That would fulfil SIR's own promise that no eligible elector is left out [2]. It would also advance SDG 16.7 on inclusive, participatory decision-making, and strengthen trust in the ECI.