Mumbai/Nagpur, Oct 5 Opposition parties in Maharashtra on Monday latched on Supreme Court Judge Ujjal Bhuyan's remarks on disenfranchisement made in the context of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and claimed constitutional rights were being "trampled upon and disrespected".
Justice Bhuyan, while delivering the valedictory address at the 19th Justice Bodh Raj Sawhney Memorial Moot Court Competition at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, on Sunday, said any process that "disenfranchises" millions of Indian citizens was "intrinsically arbitrary" and a "negation" of the constitutional order.
He noted said the Constitution does not provide for two classes of citizens, one with voting rights and the other without voting rights, and no amount of "whataboutery" could justify such a process.
The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) backed the critical remarks of Justice Bhuyan with its spokesperson Clyde Crasto saying arbitrary disenfranchisement of millions of people was against the fundamental right to vote of citizens.
The BJP's "whataboutery" indicated an attempt to cover up the alleged wrongdoings of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission of India (ECI), Crasto alleged.
"Justice Bhuyan's statement on the SIR issue upholds our Constitution and democracy. Any arbitrary disenfranchisement of voters violates their fundamental right to vote," Crasto told PTI.
Citing the SC Judge's remarks, Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal claimed constitutional rights were being "trampled upon and disrespected" in the country.
Sapkal said, "It is widely known now that our rights are being trampled, the rights given by the Constitution are being disrespected and what the SC Judge has said is actually a fact."
The owner of this country is not the prime minister, but the common citizen, which the Constitution states clearly, the Congress leader asserted while talking to reporters at the Nagpur airport.
However, the "bulldozer" called SIR, which is going on, is being used to obstruct voting rights, powers, and parties by the ECI, he charged.
The Congress has been attacking CEC Kumar after it came to light that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivel Joshi objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders on the SIR process that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
Under fire over red flags raised by two of its commissioners, the EC has asserted that differing views and observations are a part of deliberations in any institution and all its orders carry full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
Sapkal claimed the concerns raised by the two election commissioners are true and the objections raised by Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer are also valid.
"Now it has to be seen whether there is any morality left in (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and the Prime Minister," he stated.
On the Keralam government ordering a vigilance probe into a 2006 road work project when Gyanesh Kumar was the PWD secretary in the southern state, the MPCC president claimed it has been proven that "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a vote thief".
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Akhil Chitre backed Justice Bhuyan's observations and said his remarks cannot be simply brushed aside and that the Constitution does not place its actions beyond constitutional scrutiny.
"If eligible voters are removed from electoral rolls without lawful justification, transparency or due process, it raises a serious constitutional concern under Articles 14 and 326. Article 324 gives the Election Commission constitutional responsibility over elections; it does not place its actions beyond constitutional scrutiny," Chitre said.
Electoral power must serve the voter, not override the elector. Arbitrary disenfranchisement has no place in a constitutional democracy, he added.
Opposition parties and the Cockroach Janta Party, as well as civil society groups, have been protesting across the country seeking the resignation of CEC Kumar for alleged irregularities in the SIR process.
The ruling BJP and the ECI have, however, defended SIR, saying the process was being carried out in adherence to all laws and constitutional norms.
